


One Corner of the Universe

by DarkTidings



Series: Clan Grandma Jean Stories [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, American Sign Language, Deaf Character, F/M, Motherhood, Rare Pairings, Single Parents, Small Towns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24948016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkTidings/pseuds/DarkTidings
Summary: There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self - Aldous HuxleyBeth Greene didn't plan to be a divorced mother of a toddler juggling work and college at twenty-one.  But she's got it all under control, if everyone will just stop seeing her as Maggie Greene's baby sister.  Sometimes, small town life is frustrating, but she can't imagine life outside of King County.
Relationships: Beth Greene/Eugene Porter
Series: Clan Grandma Jean Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805536
Comments: 96
Kudos: 36





	1. Single Motherhood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this can be read as a standalone story, reading _No Evil Dooms Us_ is probably best to get all the background of the AU.

Beth pulls into her driveway, putting the little blue Cavalier in park. She yawns and rubs at her jaw when it catches, but enjoys the moment of quiet after the busy Friday night at the cafe. She needs to let the babysitter go home so she doesn't miss curfew, though, so it's a brief one.

Climbing out of the driver's seat, she opens the rear passenger door and grabs her purse, the box of leftovers from the cafe, and the three canvas bags her groceries are in. One thing she loves since the new supermarket came to town is that it's open until eleven, while the Piggly Wiggly that's been here since before Beth was born closes at nine. It definitely makes her life easier to shop without her toddler in tow.

Locking the car, she opens the gate and heads up to the porch. Other than Benjamin, this house is her favorite thing about her brief marriage. She knows her parents would prefer she live on the farm, to be closer to them, but this place is all hers and she thinks her father takes pride in her insistence on independence.

Her keys jingle as she unlocks the door. She can hear the television as she steps inside and kicks off the comfortable Sketchers she wears for her work shifts. She nudges them out of the walkway with a sock clad foot.

"Alice? You awake?" she calls out. With the floorplan, she can see the flicker of the television and an empty recliner next to the desk stacked with her textbooks. But the teenager usually likes to set up on the couch, which can't be seen from the foyer.

"Yeah. Was finishing a paragraph on my essay for Mrs. Culver."

"Better you than me, honey," Beth replies, rounding the glass block wall that divides the little foyer from her kitchen. She puts everything she's carrying on the table and goes to put the kettle on the stove.

Alice laughs. "Like you didn't take Honors English with her, too."

"Why do you think I said better you than me?" Beth can see Alice now. The girl is craning her head over the back of the couch to peer around the brick fireplace that divides the eat-in kitchen from the living room.

"Think she'll ever retire?"

"Not in time to save you. She'll end up like Professor Binns. Die in the classroom one day and just keep teaching English."

That draws a mock shudder from Alice, but Beth can tell she agrees. Helen Culver's strictly disciplined class is legendary at the local high school, yet anyone wanting the boost of AP or Honors English classes has to learn to endure. It made Beth's freshmen composition classes in college a walk in the park, though.

Beth measures out a good serving of Grandma Jean's bedtime tea into the infuser ball and drops it in a mug before going over to her purse and counting out the bills from her tips to pay Alice. She stuffs the rest of them through the lid of the lockbox she keeps in the bookshelf built into the back of the fireplace.

It was a really good tip night, partly because all of the evening shift deputies and the paramedics made their way by to eat either before or during their shift. She's not sure who started the tradition of tipping the waitress the cost of the meal since Jean Walsh won't charge on-duty first responders. But it's been ongoing since she started work at the cafe five years ago.

Having Alice watch Benjy on Friday nights is expensive, especially when Beth's mother would watch him for free. But Alice is saving for college, and Beth's years out of her sheltered upbringing. She'll help where she can, because the teenager is desperate for her ticket out of King County to be a college degree.

The girl takes the cash and thanks her, tucking it into her wallet in her backpack pocket. "I should get home. Mom and her boyfriend are in Atlanta for the weekend."

Beth dislikes the idea of Alice being home alone all weekend, but criticizing it will just put the girl on the defensive. "Well, if you get bored by yourself, just come over tomorrow."

"I might. Is your mom gonna watch Benjy tomorrow night?"

"Yeah. He's going to stay the night."

That's the routine now. Alice keeps him Friday nights, Beth's parents on Saturday nights, and her mother comes over on Tuesday and Thursday nights while Beth works. She set them up to be the same nights her father runs the free clinic, so Annette can watch him here rather than the farm. He goes to the daycare in Griffin as a drop-in when Beth has on-campus classes.

As Alice packs up her homework, Beth grabs the kettle before it can whistle and adds water to her tea mug.

"Domino is still in the backyard. Kept whining to go out."

"There's been a possum nosing around lately. He's convinced he's a hunting dog."

Alice giggles as she heads for the front door. "It's King County. I've seen weirder hunting dogs than a pit bull before. G'night, Beth."

Beth steps out onto the front porch and watches as Alice crosses the road and goes inside her own house. She hates the idea of the fourteen-year-old being home alone for two nights, but convincing her or her mother it's a bad idea hasn't worked so far.

It's King County, after all, and Beth's surprised they don't have feral children from all the ones left to raise themselves due to neglect, poverty, and too damned many single parents coping with both.

She locks her door and goes to put away the groceries and take-home container. Between her mother and Jean, plus working at the cafe, she doesn't have the grocery bill most single mothers do. But the farm products don't cover everything, like Benjy's obsession with Apple Jacks cereal.

Once that's done, she steps down the hall, peering into the middle bedroom. Her son is asleep in his toddler bed, sprawled on his belly in a pose nearly identical to the way his father slept when they were married. She pulls the Elmo themed comforter back over his sturdy little body and kisses his cheek.

This is the part that sucks about working evenings four days a week, that someone else puts him to bed. But it'll be worth it in the end, and if she gets the job she wants after college, she will probably end up working evenings or nights at times anyway. Might as well stay used to it.

She can't resist smoothing his honey blond curls. They feel like the softest silk, and she feels that familiar surge of joyful emotion that she somehow managed to create this little being. How Dennis stands being deployed and away from him for months at a time, she'll never understand.

Reluctantly, she heads down the hall to her own bedroom. Benjy's room is sandwiched between the master and the large extra bedroom that Beth rents out. The last tenant was a nurse at the local hospital, but she got married in August. Now there's Tara, who seems so grateful to have a roommate who is understanding of shift work that it makes Beth smile.

She strips off her work clothes, tossing them in the hamper and pulling on a cotton tank top and plaid flannel sleep pants. Finally not having a bra on feels glorious. It takes a minute to unpin her hair from the crown and unbraid it. Running a brush through the blonde locks, she debates cutting it shorter, like Maggie's.

It would be easier, especially with Benjy and Henry's love of yanking on hair unexpectedly, but it's the one vanity she allows herself these days. She might not be just Hershel Greene's spoiled youngest child any more, but her hair makes her feel feminine. There's not a lot of that in her life these days.

Although she doesn't wear makeup at work, she still washes her face, deciding she'll opt for a shower in the morning before Jean brings Henry by. Benjy loves helping her blow dry her hair anyway.

A yip from the backyard reminds her that Domino is still outside. She goes to the back door, stepping out onto the deck to whistle. 

The white pit bull bounds up out of the darkness, tail wagging so hard she's surprised he doesn't fall over. She pets him, roughhousing just a bit in greeting.

"Let's get inside before you actually catch that possum and can't figure out what to do with it."

He bolts through the door at the word 'inside', making her laugh. She secures the back door once she's inside and powers up her laptop on the way through to the kitchen for her tea mug.

It's only 10:30, so she can get in a half hour of studying without feeling comatose tomorrow when Benjy wakes up. Three of her classes this semester are online, with her Soils and Hydrology class being on-campus due to the lab requirement and Analytical Geometry because there's no way on this planet she was trying that class online.

Beth thinks she passed all her midterms this week, but midterms being done doesn't make the professors lighten the workload in her major. She suspects the Geometry professor, in particular, must have a sadistic streak.

It's too late to even consider tackling the Geometry, so she checks the message board for her Environmental Law class and plunges into reading about the oh-so-exciting world of pesticide regulation.

Domino completes his inspection of the house and comes to flop down next to her desk chair. He looks up at her and yawns, flicking his black-spotted pink tongue out before dropping his head back to his paws. 

The pit bull is mostly white, but with two black patches over his eyes and freckles of black and gray along his body and one black sock. He was a gift from Merle Dixon after her elderly Scottie died right after Dennis reenlisted when they divorced. 

Grandma Jean's 'eldest boy' showed up one Sunday afternoon with the half-grown pup and a gruff instruction that a single mama needed a dog big enough to take the nuts off anyone dumb enough to break in. So far, Domino's willingness to put teeth in any intruder hasn't been tested.

She realizes she's studied longer than she intended when she hears a car pull up. Beth shuts down the laptop and closes her textbook just as she hears keys in the lock. She swivels her chair to smile as Tara steps inside, looking tired.

"Have a good first day on the job?"

Tara groans. "Getting tossed into the office politics the first day is not my idea of fun." She sits on the little bench in the foyer and unlaces her boots. Leaving her boots under the bench, she goes and slides the lock at the top of the hall closet door to get to the gun cabinet.

Having a ready made place to put her service weapon and gear was one of the selling points for Tara in moving in. Beth doesn't think she expected that, with a toddler in the house.

Beth's well aware she doesn't look like the type of person who owns enough guns for an actual gun cabinet. It's one of those things she likes, watching as people back up and reassess their initial impressions of her.

"There's some meatloaf from the cafe in the fridge if you want it," she tells Tara. "And yeah, I figured it might get sticky when you were riding with Shane tonight."

Tara reappears, stripped down to her white undershirt and work pants. "I honestly thought the sheriff might be trying to run me off when I first met Walsh. Figured out pretty quickly he was worried, not pissed though."

"Did something happen?" Beth takes her mug to the sink and washes it, leaving it in the dish rack. "And Shane's a good guy. You don't have to worry about him."

"Met his shift sergeant when we were leaving the cafe. He says I should expect a transfer to midnights. Is that going to be a problem?"

Beth knew Abraham and A.J. came into the cafe, but she missed him talking to the deputies. She's not surprised that the sergeant stepped into the middle of things with a rookie involved.

"Not at all." Beth leans against the sink while Tara takes the food out of the fridge and pops it in the microwave. "Benjy is a pretty sound sleeper. My last roommate worked swing shift at the hospital, remember?"

She yawns and Tara laughs. "You don't have to keep me company."

"I know. I'm just putting off being in bed by midnight on a Friday night. Alone."

That makes Tara laugh, even as she takes a bite of the meatloaf. "Holy crap, this is good."

"Everything at the cafe is Shane's grandmother's recipe. She's retired now, but still owns the place. Give it a few weeks, and you'll end up invited to Sunday dinner."

Tara eats a few more bites before studying Beth. "You do know that Walsh doesn't think you're serious about asking him out?"

Beth sighs and shrugs. Trust a newcomer to catch on to what the thick-headed deputy didn't. "That would be the story of my life these days. Every interesting man around sees me as Maggie's baby sister and thus off limits."

Some of the boys turned young men that she graduated with might be willing, but she knows her preference isn't for men she used to share juice boxes with.

Losing her virginity to Rick Grimes when he was home from college the summer between her junior and senior year of high school definitely proved that to her. But that little summer romance was doomed by the man's embarrassment of her still being in high school. The irony now is that she's a year older than his wife.

Dennis was the exception in seeing her as independent of her family and her years of being a perky cheerleader. It makes her miss him sometimes. Being married didn't work out, but their sex life was definitely something worth remembering.

"If you like 'em older, maybe I can introduce you to some of my sister's friends sometime. Atlanta isn't that far away."

"If I stay celibate much longer, I may take you up on that." Beth smothers her yawn with a tired giggle. "I'll see you in the morning."

Tara bids her goodnight, and Beth remembers to grab her cell phone out of her purse on the way to her room. She goes to put it on the charger before hesitating and thumbing the unlock code. She logs into the campus app and looks for the tutoring page. Surviving her midterm for Geometry was as much luck as skill, so it's time to be proactive.

She disregards most of the ads until she sees a familiar name. Remembering the guy as some sort of math and science genius graduate student who was the TA for her chemistry class last semester, she clicks to send a message. His rate is a little higher than most of the others, but she's got savings put back for just this sort of thing.

Geometry problem solved, she puts the phone on the charger and climbs into bed. Domino makes the jump up to the mattress, curling up against her legs and starting to snore gently as Beth tries to relax into sleep.

Maybe she should look into one of those dating apps, but she's heard too many jokes and horror stories from her sister and friends to really be interested. Seems like she'll just have to stick to the single life for now.

The thought makes her grumpy, so she drags the pillow from the empty side of the bed and turns it into a teddy bear. She doesn't regret having her son for a minute, but dammit, being twenty-one should be more interesting than this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rather than clog up the original Grandma Jean story, I will be spinning the secondary romance stories into their own tales as part of a series.
> 
> Beth gets to be the first, and remember how I told y'all to take a chance on me writing rare pairs? This one is going down a really rare path as part of the original gift story that spawned this series.


	2. Juggling Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth spends her Saturday with the boys and trying to introduce Tara a little further to the world she's gotten herself into.

Beth waits until she hears Tara out of bed and in the tiny bathroom off the hall before venturing into her own bathroom and cranking the shower up hot. Benjy is still asleep when she goes by to let Domino out into the backyard, demonstrating her blessing in this even tempered, sweet child of hers. He'll be awake by the time she's done showering, though.

The rooms have that semi-chilled feeling of being on the cusp of needing the heat on at night. She sets a reminder on her phone to give the furnace a test run and schedule the propane delivery before they get into their busy season.

With that perpetual sense of being on a timer, she makes the shower quick and efficient. There's time for a long soak in the tub tonight after work with Benjy staying over at his grandparents. Once she's out and wrapped her long hair in a towel, she gets dressed. The nights might be getting colder, but the days are still shorts worthy.

When she stops at the baby gate in Benjy's doorway, she can't help but smile. He's awake, but instead of screeching at the gate wanting out like almost every toddler she knows, he's sitting in the middle of his bed with every book he owns. It is not an insignificant amount, because she can't resist buying him books.

"Couldn't decide on what to read, little man?" she asks, amused.

"Goggie, Mama." He holds up one of the alphabet board books, pointing to the cartoon dog.

"Yes, sweetie. That's a doggie like Domino. You ready for breakfast?"

He nods, closing the book with a thump and tumbling out of bed. She unlatches the safety gate and grabs his clothes for the day, trying not to laugh when he gets tangled in his pajama shirt. It's the work of minutes to get him out of the night pull-up and into a new one plus clothes. He's showing progress on potty training, but not so much that she's giving up the extra protection yet.

Tara's in the kitchen when they arrive, spinning the rack for the K-cups she has for the coffee maker that is her addition to the kitchen. She yawns and greets them both.

"Want to pick me out a coffee, Benjy?"

Drawn by the allure of the new contraption, he jogs over to her, giving Beth time to open the box of Apple Jacks and put a handful in a bowl at his spot at the table. That'll get him started, along with his sippy cup she fills with milk from one of the glass jugs from Grandma Jean's. 

"Wild Mountain Blueberry. Good choice, buddy." Tara holds Benjy, helping him load the K-cup into the machine. Once it's started brewing, she passes him to Beth to strap into his seat.

Tara's ease with small children due to her niece is one of the reasons Beth was happy to rent to her. She sees no reason for the extra bedroom to stand empty, but finding a roommate can be tricky with a child in the house. Tara's rent covers a large chunk of Beth's mortgage obligation, so she's glad to have found her.

The scent of the blueberry coffee fills the kitchen and makes Beth crave blueberry pancakes. She pulls the box of mix off the pantry shelf and sets it on the counter. "Want pancakes while I'm making ours?"

"If it's no trouble." Tara's waiting a little impatiently for her coffee to brew.

"Just as easy to make a few extra as just four for me and Benjy."

She sets the cast iron griddle pan on the stove and lights the two burners, letting it heat while she measures out the mix and adds water. "You like bananas in your blueberry pancakes?" 

"Never tried it, but sure, why not?"

Beth laughs. "That's the spirit. They won't be as good as the ones at the cafe when blueberries are in season, but the bananas add some extra yum." She slices half of a banana into the bowl and gives the rest to Benjy. He crams a couple of Apple Jacks into the soft fruit before taking a bite.

"Don't think I want to try his banana combo though."

"I've seen him take a jalapeno off someone's plate to eat with his banana before. Never trust Benjy's flavor combinations."

Tara makes a face at that idea while Beth checks the griddle heat. She hears a vehicle pull up outside and peers out the window over the sink to see Jean's Bronco.

"Can you go let Grandma Jean in?"

The young deputy nods and sets her coffee down to go open the door as the elderly woman makes her way to the porch. Tiny pounding feet clatter across the linoleum when Henry pelts his way into the house.

"Bet!" She's braced for the enthusiastic hug around her knees, reaching down to rub Henry's fuzzy little head before finishing pouring the pancakes.

"Good morning, girls," Jean says, setting Henry's backpack down in an empty chair. "And there's my Benjy boy."

Benjy giggles, accepting the kisses from Jean with enthusiasm. He offers her a bite of Apple Jacked banana and she takes it, telling him how tasty it is.

"I hate to drop Henry and run, but I'm stopping by the hospital for a bit to see the new baby. Plus Jody's in the Bronco still, and he might commit grand theft auto if I leave him too long."

"You know that's fine." Beth accepts the hug offered with a smile before flipping her pancakes, Henry still attached to her knees.

Jean pauses at Tara before offering a hand. "Jean Walsh."

"Tara Chambler. You must be Shane's grandmother."

"The one and only. Remind Beth to bring you by for Sunday supper when your schedule allows." Jean smiles brightly, her orange and black beribboned braid bobbing as she crouches to kiss Henry. "You be good for Auntie Beth, alright?"

Henry pats Beth's leg. "Mine."

Jean chuckles. "Yes, she's your auntie." She stands back up. "He's already eaten breakfast. Daryl says he'll pick him up before four."

Beth nods, plating up the first round of pancakes. "We'll be here."

As soon as the door closes behind Jean, Tara giggles a little nervously. "Does she always wear such colorful clothes?"

"Pretty much. I'm fairly sure she makes most of her own clothes to get the combinations she manages."

Today's outfit was the usual sort for Jean: black corduroy overalls over an orange and black bat-themed henley. Her usual well broken-in brown Roper boots complete the look.

"Was she serious about the supper invite?"

"Oh, yeah. She never jokes about meal invitations." Beth pours more pancakes before disentangling Henry and going to unfold Benjy's old high chair. Henry may have had breakfast, but she knows he'll want to nibble when they eat.

Tara still looks a little puzzled as Beth flips the pancakes, so she elaborates. "It's a bit of a tradition, Jean scoping out anyone new around her boys. I promise you, your butt didn't warm that cafe chair for more than five seconds before someone was texting or calling to tell her about the new girl."

"I'm just his partner and temporary at that."

Beth waves off the concerned look as she plates the pancakes after turning the stove off. "Nothing like that. But you're new around here and between living here and working with Shane, you're already halfway adopted. It's a good thing."

She hands Tara her plate and gathers the bottle of homemade blueberry syrup and forks on her way to the table. Tearing off a few bites of Benjy's pancake, she drops them on Henry's tray. He grins and stuffs one in his mouth. She shreds the rest into Benjy's now empty bowl.

"I guess I'll let you know when my schedule fits." Tara sits opposite her at the table, pouring her own syrup liberally.

"Sounds good. Sunday dinner after church at my parents' farm and Sunday supper at Jean's are pretty much staples of my week here." It's one reason she doesn't work Sundays, preferring the content cheer of her mother's kitchen followed by the happy chaos of Jean's as the way she recharges for the week ahead.

Tara thinks that over as she eats a few bites. "Shane tried to explain last night. Henry's your nephew and his?"

"More or less, yes. Technically, Henry's my ex-husband's nephew, his twin sister's son. But it's less confusing to just be his aunt since he's Benjy's cousin." She and Dennis were divorced in April before Henry was actually born last August, but that's just a technicality.

Looking back and forth between the boys, Tara nods. "I can see the resemblance."

Beth can too. The boys could pass for siblings and sometimes get confused as such when they're together.

"Shane didn't mention Henry's mother, just Daryl."

"Denise is up in Pennsylvania doing her medical residency. It's a five year program in child psychiatry and pediatrics."

Beth doesn't elaborate that Denise's chosen specialty has everything to do with her lifelong friendship with Daryl and what his life was like before Jean took custody. That's more personal than Tara has a right to yet.

"Why so far away? Surely Emory has the same programs?"

"Not for her specialty. She had to take one further away. She's obligated there until she can transfer, if she can find a program closer, but it means a longer residency instead of a combined one."

"Makes sense, I guess. I can't imagine being that far away from my child though."

It mirrors Beth's thoughts last night about Dennis missing out on so much with Benjy. Some careers just work out that way. "Me either."

Tara looks a little guilty. "I'm sorry. I know it sounds a little judgemental. Especially considering…" She glances toward Benjy. He's done with his food, carrying on a 'conversation' with Henry that seems to make sense between toddlers.

"Don't worry about it. It is what it is. He's young enough to not really miss his father, right now, and better a happy father he sees regularly through video chat than an unhappy one grinding his way through a manufacturing job here."

She gets up from the table, collecting dishes and sippy cups to go rinse in the sink. Once she's wiped both boys' faces and hands with a damp paper towel, she sets them free. They make a beeline for the back door, with Henry making excited barking noises when he sees Domino outside.

"No-no, Bet. No-no!" Henry reaches for the door knob, fingers slipping off.

"I can wash up the dishes if you want to take them outside," Tara offers, laughing at the smaller boy.

"Thanks." Beth grabs a can of root beer out of the fridge and heads for the door. Once released to the back deck, the boys make a beeline for the steps. She catches Henry before his enthusiasm outstrips his ability, setting him on his feet on the grass.

Benjy goes straight for his little motorized Jeep, careening around the yard with all the coordination of a drunk driver in an obstacle course. Henry, well used to his cousin's driving habits, retreats to the shelter of the little plastic play house with 'No-no' for company. Boy and dog both cheer on Benjy from their safe haven with similar yips.

It gives Beth a minute to sit on the steps with her drink before checking to see what the email notification is about when her phone chimes.

It's the tutor, and by luck, he's free for two hours on Mondays and Wednesdays if she doesn't mind him eating lunch while they study. Since that fits neatly with two of her on-campus days and she can just leave Henry in the daycare a little while extra, she acknowledges the schedule and thanks him before putting the phone away. 

That's a relief. She almost dropped the class when she realized her best math tutor was going to be resident at the King County Detention Facility for most of the semester. But nothing else fit her schedule right, so she bit the bullet and kept the class.

The day passes quickly as it always does with both boys around. Beth manages two study sessions due to their morning and afternoon naps, choosing to concentrate on her more comprehensible classes.

Daryl knocks on the door when she's halfway through getting dressed, and she answers it while still buttoning up her uniform shirt. She could probably answer the door topless and Daryl wouldn't notice.

"You can slow down, Beth. I'll take Benjy out to your mama's place for you," he says. He spots Tara where she's curled up on the couch with her handbook and frowns just a little, obviously trying to place who she is. The deputy got the call she expected, changing her to Abe's shift for training, so she's still home.

"You're the best man on the planet," she declares, brushing a kiss across his cheek. "This is Tara, my new roommate and the new deputy. Tara, this is Henry's dad, Daryl."

She abandons them to their own devices, tucking her shirt in and going to check if Benjy's overnight bag has everything. Opening the safety gate sets the boys free, and they go running down the hall, demanding Daryl's attention.

By the time she returns with the bag, he's got them both hoisted over his shoulders on their bellies while they giggle. She follows him out to his crew cab ancient Ford truck, taking Benjy around to the extra car seat Daryl keeps in the backseat, just like Beth has an extra stored in her trunk.

She waves from the porch, yelling she'll see him tomorrow at supper. She's back in the living room, braiding her hair in ease of long practice, when Tara clears her throat.

"What?"

The brunette grins wolfishly. "I know Walsh is good looking, if you like the jock type, but that man is pretty enough to make me wish he was a woman."

"He also dated my sister through half of high school. I'm not masochistic enough to have a crush on _two_ of my sister's ex-boyfriends. One's enough, thanks."

That makes Tara laugh. "Point taken."

"See you in the morning. I'm going to take advantage of the extra time to run by my dad's clinic and say hi."

"Drive safe!" Tara calls out as Beth slips on her shoes and grabs her purse.

Beth waves and heads to her car, coaxing the aging Cavalier to life. She rubs the steering wheel and sighs. "No nervous breakdowns, old girl. We're in this together a while longer."

The last thing she wants in the middle of her careful juggling act of a life is a car payment. Reminding herself to ask Daryl to take a look tomorrow at supper, she heads off to surprise her dad.

It'll all work out. It always does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Beth... The trials of being the baby sister to a confident and popular Maggie. Even off at veterinary school, she casts a long shadow.


	3. Adopted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth takes Tara to Sunday dinner at the Greenes, so she learns even more about her new home.

Beth parks her car next to Shawn's girlfriend's little Ford Fusion and gives it a minute for Tara to park next to her. She offered to give her roommate a ride when she stopped by after church, but Tara is concerned about the possibility of getting called in early. She hopes it doesn't happen, because she would hate to see the woman overworked like some of the other deputies.

Benjy's bouncing on the porch, acting like he didn't see her just fifteen minutes ago at church. She scoops him up with a laugh and snuggles him after lifting him over the porch's baby gate. It's hard to believe he's almost two now.

"Tara!" he cries out, reaching for the other woman. She takes him, settling him on her hip. Beth supposes he's both an ice breaker and social shield as Tara braves a house full of strangers.

She opens the door, ushering Tara inside, and yells, "We're here, Mama!"

"In the kitchen!"

Leading her guest along, Beth spots her mother, still clad in her Sunday best, now protected by a floral apron. She's easing a roast out of the crockpot and onto a serving platter. The smell of it makes Beth's mouth water as if she didn't eat breakfast at all.

Once Annette has the meat settled to her liking, she turns and smiles. "You must be Tara. I'm Beth's mother, Annette."

Tara shifts Benjy to take the offered hand. "I didn't expect so many meal invitations. I don't think I even own a good dress anymore."

She makes an almost embarrassed glance as her jeans and blouse combination, obviously comparing it to Annette and Beth's Sunday dresses. Beth reaches for an apron, remembering spilling food on her dress one too many times.

"Oh, nonsense, honey. I've had my son show up in overalls between birthing calves. There's no dress code at my table. I'm just too lazy to change."

Tara smiles, and Benjy distracts her by asking for his sippy cup.

"Just set him in the high chair, and Beth can get his cup."

Beth was already anticipating that, so she's got a cup out of the dish rack and filling it with half water and half apple juice from the fridge.

"How's the apple harvest going, Mama?" she asks. Annette persuaded Hershel to buy the neighboring farm when Beth was in middle school and the elderly owner could no longer cope. Mrs. Matthews finished out her days as a pampered tenant, while Beth's mother got a farm that produced more than meat and hay.

"Bumper crop this year. Enough to keep the tourists busy on the you-pick side and plenty for market as well."

Beth passes Benjy's cup to Tara. "Mama's got the farm next door all certified organic, so she can sell to the snobby folks up in Atlanta for twice the price they would pay for something not labeled organic."

"Now, Bethie, don't sound so disapproving. It's nothing special other than growing it like we did before the chemical companies tried to make life easier."

"They seem to think the bugs all magically disappear."

Annette just laughs. "Probably the same folks that think meat grows on styrofoam in supermarkets, honey."

Beth ladles the roast veggies into a big bowl, watching as her mother checks on the cornbread in the oven. 

"And this farm?" Tara looks confused. 

"Cattle and chickens. Also marketed for the softer hearted crowd as free range."

Annette swats Beth's behind playfully. "What my smarty pants daughter is saying is that we raise our animals humanely, like we always have. Pretty pastures for the cattle and fields for the hens to chase bugs to their heart's delight instead of a crowded, smelly chicken house."

Tara nods, probably as familiar with those stinky staples of Georgia agriculture like everyone else.

"Neither farm is going to make us rich, but it's a comfortable life."

"Where is everyone?" Beth asks. The house is awfully quiet.

"They're all down at the stables looking at the new rescue horse Shawn brought in last week. Pretty little paint mare, but so underfed she looks like something out of a Wild Hunt drawing."

"Poor thing. Well, I'm sure Daddy and Shawn will get her back on her feet in no time."

Voices near the backdoor and the sound of running water signal the others are back and washing up, so Beth starts setting the table while her mother checks her pots on the stovetop.

"Can I help?" Tara asks.

"If you want to fix the drinks, you can," Annette says. "There's a bag of ice in the freezer and two pitchers of sweet tea in the fridge. Fix two glasses with water and seven with tea, plus one of whichever you prefer."

Tara finds the cabinet with the glasses easily, since they're in the cabinet by the refrigerator like every house Beth's ever been in. Beth flashes her a smile as she retrieves silverware and returns to the table.

As the noisy crowd pours into the kitchen, Beth is distracted from setting the table by the off-her-feet bear hug her brother delivers. "I see Betsy Bug is being all industrious. Aiming for extra helpings of dessert?"

She smacks at the hands around her waist, laughing. "Aiming for an entire chocolate meringue all to myself."

"Them's fighting words, baby sister." He kisses her cheek and sets her back on her feet, before going to help his girlfriend, Amy, and Tara with bringing the glasses to the table.

"My money's on Beth avoiding dish duty," Amy chimes in, grinning at Beth as she sets a glass of water in front of Otis and Annette's places at the table.

"You would be far closer to the truth than my brother. Our busser was out sick last night and Tee, Haley, and I alternated washing dishes all night."

Hershel pauses after setting the salad on the table. "I hope it's nothing serious. We've seen some early cases of the flu going around."

"Nah, we suspect it's more teenage breakup than actual illness."

"And you say that as if you are decades beyond such turbulent emotions, Bethie." Hershel kisses her on the cheek and goes to lift Benjy's high chair and move it by his place at the table.

She just laughs at her father's wry observation. With everyone's help, all the food lines the middle of the table and everyone's seated. Her father says grace, and then Beth introduces Tara as the food gets passed around.

"You've met Mama. My father, Hershel; brother, Shawn; his girlfriend, Amy; her sister, Andrea; my father's veterinary technician, Patricia; her husband, Otis; and their son, Jimmy."

She won't overwhelm Tara with the details yet. Jimmy's technically their foster son, but aging out of the foster system never negated Patricia and Otis from caring for their foster kids. Jimmy's attending college at Middle Georgia for software engineering and still living at home with Otis and Patricia to save on college costs. Otis works alongside Patricia and Shawn on the day-to-day operations of both farms. 

Andrea is a partner in a small law firm in town. She and Amy aren't natives to King County. Andrea moved to town after law school to work in her best friend's father's firm. Amy followed a few years later when their parents died in a car accident in Beth and Amy's junior year. Amy's halfway through the respiratory therapy program at Middle Georgia.

As for Shawn, his checkered path to his current stability is part of why Beth thinks her parents didn't have a complete stroke when she announced she was pregnant after Sunday dinner three years ago.

"So, Tara, you're new to King County. What do you think of the sheriff's department so far?" Shawn asks, passing the deputy the cornbread.

"I've only worked two shifts, but so far, I'm happy I came here rather than staying in Atlanta."

"She's training with Abe first, poor girl," Beth adds.

"What's wrong with Sergeant Ford?" Tara asks, frowning.

Hershel shakes his head. "Ignore Beth's teasing. Normally, Morgan starts out new deputies because Abraham Ford can be a bit intense. It's the military background."

"Poor Morgan and Jenny. His mama is doing much better, but it's taking practically an act of Congress to get her transferred here for her rehab," Annette adds. "And them with a baby on the way."

"I'm sure they'll get it sorted out," Hershel replies. He smiles at Tara. "In the meantime, Abraham is a fine trainer, just often a bit abrupt."

The rest of the meal follows the usual pattern of sharing work stories from the week and plans for the next. Tara fits in well, even with the friendly antagonism Andrea pretends as one of the local defense attorneys.

"Have you gotten your grades back from midterms?" Annette asks. That puts attention on the three college students at the table.

Jimmy swallows the bite of roast he's chewing and nods. "Checked the website this morning before church. Three As and two Bs."

"That's wonderful, son. You didn't think you were going to get a B in that history course." Patricia is smiling.

"Professor rounds up, so 79.8 got me a B."

"If you're having problems with history, I can help you study," Amy offers. "I pulled As in all the gen recs for history."

"If you've got the time, I would sure appreciate it."

"I do. Weirdly enough, having clinicals this semester is not as bad as I expected it to be. Text me and we'll match up schedules."

Jimmy nods and Andrea nudges Amy. "Grades?"

"All As except for a B in the cardiopulmonary class that I should bump up by finals." Amy reaches for the bowl of mustard greens to replenish her plate.

"Bethie?" Hershel is looking concerned that Beth hasn't volunteered yet.

She sighs, because looking online this morning sucked. "Two As, three Bs, and a C in geometry. I've already scheduled a tutor for geometry starting tomorrow after classes."

"Do you need any extra help funding that? It's more daycare hours, too." Annette is also looking concerned.

"I'm going okay. I budgeted for a tutor this semester, and Dennis is going to cover the extra daycare costs."

It's one thing she can never fault Dennis for. The regular child support comes automatically from his military pay, but it's not unusual for him to send extra funds for Benjy. He swears there's little to spend his paycheck on while onboard ship.

"Is he going to have leave around any of the holidays this year?" Patricia is always wanting Dennis around for Benjy's holidays.

"He's got the holiday block from the thirteenth to the twenty-seventh of December, so he'll be here. They'll be back in port at Norfolk before Thanksgiving though."

"Well, tell him he's welcome to our spare room again this year. No sense in him spending good money on a motel room," Otis says. "Or pretending that fold out sofa of yours is comfortable."

Beth laughs and assures him she'll pass on the offer. With no permanent family in the area anymore with Denise in Pennsylvania and both their parents passed on, it is nice to have a plan again that doesn't involve her ex-husband on her couch for a week. They might have an amicable relationship, but that's a step too far.

"I hear Jean has a new tenant," Andrea says as she gets up and brings the tea pitcher for refills. She's been a regular at Sunday dinner since Amy and Shawn got serious a year ago. Annette can't stand the idea of people close to those she cares for with no family around them.

"I'm guessing Michonne will be at supper," Beth remarks. "I haven't met the lady yet."

Hershel steeples his fingers over his empty plate, expression solemn. "She's a young woman who has already made a remarkable change in her life. I expect we'll make sure she's got the support to continue going forward with it."

It's said in such a tone that even Andrea manages a yes sir, although she looks a little startled at joining the automatic response of the younger tablemates.

"I'll remind Jean to bring her by the Career Closet. I imagine the young lady concentrated on that baby's necessities instead of her own. They always do."

"I can arrange with Grandma Jean to meet up," Amy offers. "You've got work piled to your ears this week."

"As long as it doesn't meddle with your classes. It will probably be helpful to have someone her age helping."

"Career Closet?" Tara is definitely confused.

"It's part of the local charity shop. All the local churches run the shop itself as a cooperative to raise money, and there's a job skills room and a reserve closet for work clothing for anyone starting a new job without the right clothing for it,” Beth explains.

"It's not terribly popular with the current sheriff, because we don't serve just those of lower income." If Hershel were any other man, Beth would call his tone proud. "We help certain of his former detainees get back on their feet as well."

"What's the recidivism rate on the ones you help?" Tara asks.

"We've only had two serve time again in fifteen years. But it is a small program, with the adults. We've worked more with youth."

"At least you're making an effort. That seems more than most rural areas can manage." Tara smiles slowly. "My degree is in sociology, not criminal justice."

Beth watches her parents exchange one of those considering looks she's grown used to seeing between them and the others of the circle that is responsible for the charity shop.

"Perhaps, once you've settled in, we can ask an outsider's opinion on what we're doing that isn't a defence attorney," Annette says with a smile.

Andrea laughs over the rim of her glass. "They're saying I'm hard wired to err on the side that the system's broken and needs extensive oversight. It was a narrow miss on me becoming a civil rights lawyer."

"Social progress is glacier slow, especially where it needs to change the most," Beth remarks. 

"Says the girl who is law enforcement bound, too." Shawn ruffles her hair as he follows Annette with empty plates.

"Are you aiming to be a deputy?" Tara's definitely curious now, Beth thinks.

"Game warden, actually. That's part of why I'm working on a degree in environmental science."

"A little more of a solo law enforcement career than I think I could manage."

Beth just laughs. That's exactly the appeal, along with less dependence on an elected official for a boss. 

Dessert follows with the chocolate pie Beth was anticipating. Benjy is practically asleep in his high chair when Beth lifts him out. He slumps bonelessly against her shoulder, full of good food after a fun morning in Sunday school.

With Tara along, no one follows her down to the car. The other woman is grinning at the containers in her hands.

"I think you ended up with enough chocolate pie to claim you got the entire thing."

"Only because you like it too, and Mama can't eat it. Getting rid of the temptation. Between Sunday dinner and supper, I usually don't have to cook any meals until Wednesday."

"This is enough for two."

"What can I say? You've been adopted like Andrea and Amy were."

Tara's still shaking her head as she gets into her car. Beth just grins as she leads the way home for Benjy's nap before they go out to Jean's.

Her roommate has no idea just how true the statement is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The actual Sunday supper will swap to the other story. Beth's next chapter will introduce her tutor. 😏


	4. New Tutor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth meets with her new tutor and gets settled into a schedule to salvage her grade.

Beth packs away her textbook and binder into her already heavily laden backpack, glad it has the option to convert to a wheeled cart. She's supposed to be meeting her tutor in five minutes, but he's the teaching assistant for a class this time period, so she isn't rushing.

"Miss Greene?" The professor's voice startles her and she looks up.

Professor Milton Mamet is an unassuming man, always neatly dressed in a plaid button up under a coordinating blazer. He fiddles with his silver wire-rimmed glasses, cleaning them with a soft cloth before replacing them on his face.

"Yes, professor?"

"I wanted to ask if you have considered a tutor? You did much better in the Statistics class last semester. Sometimes geometry can be tricky."

She gives him an apologetic smile. "I actually had a tutor last semester. He isn't available this semester, which is ironic because geometry really would be up his alley as a woodworker. But I did hire a replacement when the midterm proved I really need one."

Professor Mamet smiles, the expression seeming genuine for once. "I am glad to hear it. While your work is adequate to pass, I don't like to see genuine effort only receive a barely passing grade. GPAs matter more than most like to think, especially if you're considering graduate school."

"I probably won't go post-grad, but it is nice to keep my options open. Thank you, professor." She's a little flattered that he is actually taking time to check in with her. It's not something Mamet has a reputation for.

He nods and returns to packing his briefcase, so she extends the handle on her backpack and trundles her way outside. Since her tutor needs to eat, but suspects they'll be interrupted in his office even though it is outside his office hours, they're meeting at the campus cafe instead.

The historic mule barn turned cafe is one of Beth's favorite places on campus. She often picks up Benjy from daycare and comes back to campus to eat here once a week on Fridays. Like Jean's cafe, it makes an effort to locally source produce. Luckily, she's met her tutor before, and he tends to stand out in a crowd.

She finds him easily, wheeling her backpack over and calling out a greeting. He jolts, just a little, drawn away from the book he is reading and gives her an awkward smile.

"Elizabeth Greene. You sat in the third row last semester in my organic chemistry class. Did all your required work, plus the extra credit, and didn't miss a single class. Impressive for a class that met at eight in the morning."

Beth smiles brightly at being remembered from amidst all the students he's likely had as part of his teaching assistantship. "That would be me. Please call me Beth."

There's more of the awkward smile. "You may wish to call me Eugene. I already ordered lest the staff think I was taking up one of their limited numbers of tables, but I am content to wait for you to retrieve your own meal should you feel the need to dine as well."

Beth is definitely hungry enough not to wait until she's home, so she nods and retrieves her wallet from a backpack pocket so she can leave the bulky bag at the table. By the time she returns with her Aloha Turkey and the requisite scoop of 'Mule Feed', Eugene is done with his grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.

"May I see your work so far for this semester in your problematic class?" he asks as she settles her food and drink on the table opposite him. "Professor Mamet is not the most intuitive teacher for those who are not natural mathematicians."

Anticipating the request, she unzips her backpack and retrieves the three ring binder and hands it over. She starts to eat as he flips it open, taking note of the syllabus for a moment before moving on to the section she stores her class notes in. Beth appreciates that Eugene is taking his time, enough so that she's finished her sandwich by the time he's done with the notes and homework and started on the midterm just returned today.

Eugene rubs at the back of his neck as he reads, drawing her attention to his changed, yet still distinctive hairstyle. Last semester's very outdated mullet seems to be giving way to longer hair, gathered into a short ponytail. It's still a style from their birth decade, so she wonders idly why he seems fixated on hairstyles from a time period neither of them were old enough to remember before it was gone.

Beth's just finished her side salad when Eugene looks up. "I don't recall you having a lot of issues with the mathematics involved in the chemistry class last spring. It seems unusual that you struggle with geometry, but I can formulate a plan of action to raise your grade to at least a B by the final exam. We should be able to utilize the final exam to extend that grade to the low nineties."

"I had a tutor I met with once a week for my classes before now, if I got stuck on math." She still remembers how Merle could turn anything from esoteric numbers to something real that she understood easily. "That would be wonderful. Will we need more time than the four hours a week we have scheduled?"

He shakes his head. "I do not estimate requiring additional tutorial hours, but if need be, I might be available on Sunday evenings. Is this the only class you are having issues with?"

It would mean missing Grandma Jean's suppers, but she knows it'll be understood. "I don't work on Sunday nights, so that will work. And yes, I'm staying in the B or above range for the rest. Most of this semester is a lot of reading and analysis."

Eugene opens the laptop he has on the table. "If you do not have any concerns, I would like to enter your unavailable hours in my calendar. If a conflict in my schedule appears, it will enable me to better adjust to fulfill our agreement."

"That sounds very proactive. My work schedule is set days. I work from 4:00 to 10:30 on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. My classes are from 8:00 to 11:00 on Monday and Wednesday, because I go to the library in between, with a lab from 2:00 to 4:45 on Wednesday."

Eugene makes the notes as she tells him her schedule. "Right now, I substitute teach Tuesday and Thursday for the local school district, so if I don't get a call out either day, we can do extra work on those days if needed close to finals. I have classes most Saturdays and from 5:00 to 7:45 on Wednesday."

Beth blinks at the random class schedule. "I know grad school is supposed to be weird, but nights and weekends?"

"Most graduate students in education programs are working as teachers already, so the classes are scheduled around their work schedules. My faculty supervisor is attempting to get me to convert to a doctoral program instead, but I don't particularly want to make a career out of teaching college courses."

"I suppose you have taught enough classes by now to know for sure." Beth tidies away their trash, then smiles apologetically. "Habit from work."

Eugene nods. "It is understandable. Many things become rote habit if you repeat them enough times due to muscle memory. Much like driving home and not remembering the route but making it safely."

The comparison makes sense. Beth is pretty sure that she could bus tables in her sleep now. "Would you like a refill before we get started?"

He nudges his cup toward her carefully. "I prefer their lemonade. Thank you kindly."

Taking their trash to the recepticle, she tosses it and passes the cups over the counter for refills. The pretty boy college student behind the counter smiles broadly, and Beth returns the smile absently.

Back at the table, Eugene is still working on his laptop. "I've sent you some practice materials via email. Repetition is one of the better ways to drilling mathematical concepts into the brain once you've comprehended them. I also included the name of a textbook that I feel is better oriented for different learning styles. For today, we'll work from your course text if you brought it along."

Beth retrieves it and withholds the groan when Eugene doesn't turn to the current chapter. His look is almost apologetic.

"From your coursework and notes, this is the point you got confused, so we need to review and get those concepts down in order to appropriately comprehend the succeeding chapters."

"I understand. Math gets me a little sideways sometimes, but if we need to backup and review, that's how it goes. You're the expert here."

The hour and a half they spend going ovee the material does unravel some of the tangled mess in her brain, and luckily, no one seems to need the table. That doesn't stop Beth from purchasing a snack and coffee for them both halfway through. Eugene thanks her absently, and she can tell from his laptop screen that he wasn't idle for the five minutes she was gone. Even that break he spent answering an email for one of the courses he's teaching.

She refrains from commenting after they've packed up ten minutes before Eugene has to be back at his office for office hours. As they both leave the cafe, they walk together toward where the sidewalk splits in different directions for his office and the main student parking lot. Eugene glances toward her repeatedly without speaking now that they aren't discussing schedules or math. 

"How much free time do you actually get? Between your own classes, teaching here and the school, and tutoring?" She thinks his schedule sounds heavier than hers, and that's considering Benjy in the mix.

"I do not have any necessary activities aside from school and working at the present time. It is just for another semester after this one. That is the beauty of graduate school, being a shorter than the undergraduate years, so long as you aren't pursuing a doctorate. I have already performed my student teaching year, so it will all pay off come next fall."

"More digging in and keeping your eye on the goal. I get it. That's what my classes have felt like." There's been a lot of reminding herself that she's going to stay on track, because she never wants to see the worry and disappointment reappear on her parents' faces.

Eugene doesn't make the usual commentary about enjoying the college experience, which she appreciates. The regular criticisms that she's supposedly missing some great American rite of passage is irritating as hell. She has the feeling it isn't something he relates to anyway.

"You are a junior, at least. That is starting to see the end game as a possibility instead of a nebulous future event. Unless, of course, you decide to tackle the expensive minefield that is graduate school."

"I really don't see graduate school in my future, and it isn't really needed for my career field, unlike yours."

They've reached the point where their paths should diverge. Eugene pauses and shuffles his feet as he fidgets with his messenger bag, reminding Beth more of Benjy than a grown man for a brief moment. 

"I'll see you Wednesday. Do you want to meet at the cafe again?"

"If it is not crowded, it is a comfortable location and convenient for both our class schedules."

They exchange farewells, and Beth is halfway down her little strip of sidewalk when Eugene calls her name.

"You are welcome to contact me outside of our paid tutoring hours if you run into any problems."

She smiles, feeling a little relieved at the offer. "If that won't inconvenience you. I know you're extremely busy."

Eugene just shakes his head. "It is no imposition, and I already know you will ask far more intelligent questions than most of my students this semester are managing."

Beth laughs. "I'll do my best."

She gets something she thinks is meant to be a smile before he turns to head back on his way, Beth goes to find her car and spring Benjy from daycare.

She already feels like that top grade he suggested is more possible than she envisioned with this semester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well.... Here he is. 😏
> 
> There really is a mule barn turned cafe on the UGA Griffin campus. Most everything else about it will be handwavy, as it isn't really a full campus from freshman to senior IRL, but it will be here.
> 
> Eugene's grad classes really would be about that spastic in an education master's program, especially at a satellite campus... He has an online class as well that he is taking. He will get POV chapters and fill in his own background.


	5. Seize the Geek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth's visit to Merle in jail gets her to thinking about changes, so she takes a suggestion Tara makes to heart.

Beth steps into the visitation room, ignoring the snide remarks of the new blond guard. He didn't handle her patdown, but he certainly feels free to comment on her looks and who she's visiting. Behind her, she can hear the other guard hissing that the lieutenant will have his balls if she catches him talking about visiting family like that.

Percy's older, near retirement, and probably should be on desk duty and nowhere near prisoners who do occasionally become violent. He's worked at the detention center all Beth's life and more, but he also attends her church. The new guy won't last long with the attitudes he's got, especially when he's not a local.

She takes a seat at an empty table. Merle isn't in the room yet, but she knows that happens sometimes. She watches the door instead, giving the other visiting folks privacy. Flashes of color surround her, blips in the peripheral, the color coding of the scrubs-clad prisoners blending with their visitors.

When Merle steps through the door, he is smiling as he takes a seat directly across from her. She's visited once a month since he reported to serve his time back in May, but she missed last month with being bogged down in classes. 

Clad in black scrubs over a gray thermal long sleeved undershirt, she thinks he's put on some serious muscle mass even in that timespan.

"Good to see you around again, Bethie. How's the semester going?"

"Slowly. I got a tutor for the geometry class finally."

His smile fades as his expression goes solemn. "They any good?"

"Yeah, he seems to be. He's a graduate student." Today was the second tutoring session, and she's starting to believe in that A versus improving to a B. Eugene's intensity and belief in her ability gives her flagging attitude towards math a desperately needed boost.

"Wish they would have let you swap it out, so you didn't have to pay for a tutor."

Merle always refused any payment, claiming having Benjy around to entertain Jody was payment in plenty. Even after Henry was born, he still treats Benjy like a nephew. 

"I'll hold you to that next semester. The math never quite goes away."

He laughs, the sound gravelly. "Eventually, you do graduate, you know."

"I guess so." She studies her nails for a second, absently noting the green polish is chipping and needs to be replaced. "Mama had some more of the children's books sent. Next three in the series."

"Tell her thank you for me. Me and Jody are about done with the last one on the bedtime calls. New guys want to get a little cocky about me carrying around Magic Treehouse books, but they seem to get over it fast."

Beth laughs. "With help? You best not mess up you being home for Thanksgiving." 

She knows Jean worries about the sentence being extended. Fights in the detention facility happen, although the sheer size of Merle probably helps a lot in avoiding actually getting physical. There's no missing his Marine Corps tattooes, either.

"You do note I am no longer wearing red, right, little missy? You don't get the black with any fights on record."

Beth thinks back to August and realizes that he was wearing crimson red scrubs then. The color marked him as convicted of a violent felony and in the first half of his sentence. That felony is the reason he can't be a trustee, as well as why he's not eligible for the county work crews. Despite all the extenuating circumstances, some rules don't get adjusted.

"Well, you best keep it that way, mister."

"I have less than thirty days left, short stack." His expression softens from teasing. "I intend to go to your daddy's meetings when I'm out. Make it stick this time. I can't lose control like that again."

"He said he's been coming by on Saturdays." It's hard to imagine her father and Merle having enough conversation to make to spend thirty minutes a week together in this sterile room. But Hershel says that being an alcoholic himself is all the common ground he ever needs to be a sponsor.

"We've had some good visits. Some of the rest of these guys would do better with a man like him doing the Sunday service instead of that tired fella from Macon who drives up to play chaplain."

"Maybe you should suggest it." While Beth can't imagine her father missing church, and he's a deacon, not a pastor, she knows people find him particularly soothing. "He could do the first of the month or something."

"I'll keep it in mind for Saturday." Merle leans his forearms on the table, balancing his weight. "You look tired, Bethie. No, not tired. More just a little off center."

She sighs, wishing he hadn't noticed, but he always does. "Just got a good case of the blahs." He arches a brow, and she continues. "Just feeling the limits of King County lately and being the littlest Greene."

It feels weird, discussion her properly in order, but boring, life with a man stuck behind bars who doesn't get to see his son every day like she does hers. Selfish, even.

"The connotations to your name may be the opposite of mine, but I understand. Why do you think I enlisted?"

"But you came back and stayed." Unlike Dennis, who didn't really fit into the small world of King County anymore. Dennis's family was neither prominent nor notorious, but his place of birth isn't home for her ex like it os for others here.

Merle runs a hand over his neatly trimmed goatee, studying her with a pensive expression. "Because as much trouble as I brought to Jean, I do love her. She's not going to live forever, and I didn't want to be on the other side of the world and hear I wouldn't have any more time to make it up to her."

"Sounds like a country song."

He shrugs. "There's a reason for all those mournful lyrics. I lost my mama in a way no one should, and I was too angry to deal with it for a long time. Jean never tried to replace her, and I love hee for that."

"Guess you get a lot of time to think in here."

"Too much. But you never got that chance to leave for college or the service. I figure it insulates you a bit. Maybe you might consider taking your first job in another region. Close enough to visit, but not in everyone's back pocket."

Beth thinks that over, weighing the tug at her heart that says she can't take Benjy away from family against the growing feeling of being stifled and lonely.

"Maybe you're right. It's not like it would be forever. Just a few years and transfer home." It might even help with her authority in the job, not to be a rookie in her own home county's region. She smiles at him. "Just gotta survive until college is done."

"There is that." He shifts the conversation to a book he's got out of the center's library that he thinks she'll enjoy, which brings them to the time limit.

He stands at the signal from Percy. "Next visit at Grandma Jean's."

Beth smiles at the combination reminder that he's almost free and his protectiveness of her entering the environment here. "Sure. See you for Thanksgiving, Merle."

She steps out into the visitation lobby, pulling the little key out to unlock the tiny locker she stored her purse in. She hands the key back in, making sure she signs out.

"He sure gets a lot of visitors for a felon." 

"He's family." Beth frowns as she looks up from digging her keys out of her purse. "You even bother to find out why he's a felon?"

The nee guard shrugs, sitting on the stool behind the desk now that no one is coming in for visitation. "No need to know."

"Well, deputy, you aren't from around here, obviously."

"Everyone keeps saying that like it's important."

Beth laughs, shaking her head a little. "It is, and it isn't. But for now, it means you might withhold assumptions. We're a bit unique here."

"What did Dixon do?"

"He defended a woman from being assaulted. If the manchild whose jaw he broke didn't have a daddy with more money than sense, he would be doing community service and probation, and the manchild serving for assault and probably in the predator unit."

She smiles her best Sunday School smile before continuing. "And even if he fully deserved being in there, you reap what you sow when you work in law enforcement. Not all of them are lost causes yet."

He surprises her when he smiles, accepting the mini-lecture. "You're advising the golden rule?"

"It's as good as any, especially if you have any hopes of promotion or moving to full deputy here."

"I'll keep that in mind, Miss Greene."

"Everyone around here calls me Beth."

He taps the nameplate on his uniform, making it shimmer so she doesn't quite catch his surname. "Guess I'm Daniel, then. I hope you don't have to visit much longer."

Beth looks toward the door into the visitation room. "I won't. He's a good man."

The deputy nods, just as someone comes in just under the wire to check in. She makes her way to her car, glad that Tara offered to watch Benjy for the evening. The Cavalier starts up just fine, thanks to Daryl stopping by Monday after work to put in a new starter. 

When she pulls into her drive, it's full dark, so she hurries inside. She starving, and Benjy will need a bath soon.

"All go well?" Tara asks. "There's leftover pizza in the fridge." She and Benjy are in the living room, sprawled on the floor with Duplo legos between them. Whatever they're building isn't immediately recognizable, but he's happy.

"Yeah. He's looking forward to being home by Thanksgiving."

Tara adds a yellow block to a tower, which makes Benjy scramble to add a red one. "I understand he's related to Daryl and Shane, but you never mention Merle. Is it because he's in jail?"

Beth snags a slice of pizza, deciding to eat it cold. "A little, but mostly just that he hasn't come up."

"Is he as pretty as his brother?"

Giggling, Beth nearly chokes on her pizza. "No, I guess not. I've honestly never really thought of him like that. He's more like a odd big brother. He saved my life once, and he's been sort of a self-appointed guardian angel since."

Tara looks curious. "How did that happen?"

"We were all horsing around on the riverbank one winter. I was twelve, right around the time Maggie started dating Daryl." She munches another bite of pizza. 

"He hadn't been home long from the Marines, but for some reason decided to trail along with all of us. The bank collapsed under me, one of those weird sinkholes it gets sometimes. Dumped me in the river when it was thirty degrees outside."

"And he bailed in after you."

"Yeah."

Sometimes, if she gets really cold, Beth can remember the shock of the frigid water and the terror of being caught in the current. She knew how to swim, but not like that. The others said he didn't even hesitate, just shucked his jacket as he ran ahead to intercept and dove in ahead of her path in the water.

One moment she was drowning, struggling to stay above water. The next, there were arms around her, stabilizing her tumbling in the water, and she could finally breathe despite the cold. They made it to the bank, and he rode with her in the ambulance, refusing to leave her side until her parents reached the hospital.

Merle's looked after her ever since, in his own unique way.

"Guess that would merit visiting him just about anywhere."

Beth smiles, glad Tara understands. She would go more often, except that he's asked her not to. Once a month is their compromise.

She finishes her pizza, plus a second slice, and goes to start Benjy's bath. By the time she has him settled in bed, Tara's back in her room, talking to her sister on the phone before getting ready for work. Beth lets Domino in and snags her Geometry book and binder to work from her room.

She's halfway through the day's assignment when she receives an email from Eugene about her progress. He seems so worried she might not reach out for help that he's reminding her it isn't an imposition.

It's sweet of him, considering this is his late night for classes. She takes a snapshot of her work so far and emails it.

Her alert dings within five minutes, telling her she's missed a step on problem five. She fixes it and sends him the new problem she completed as well. Before she knows it, she's done the whole set of problems, and he's only corrected three more.

She sets the binder and textbook aside, feeling relieved and grateful. Tapping her phone against her chin, she finds herself smiling at the attention, which is far beyond what she expected from a super busy graduate student.

"Normally, a smile like that after all those notifications would make me think you have a date, but I doubt Shane's wised up." Tara's grinning at her door, fully kitted out for work.

"No, he's as thick-headed as ever. I was just working with my tutor."

Tara leans against the door frame. "Man's spending his entire evening helping you with homework?"

Beth nods. "He had his night class today, too."

"What's this one look like?"

She has to think before answering. Eugene's isn't conventionally handsome, not like the other men Beth knows. But there's something appealing about the fact that he isn't. He doesn't expect to be admired or take it for granted that he will be. Even Daryl, as shy as he is, has a confidence born from being the recipient of admiring looks all his life. 

"He's a bit awkward, like he's not comfortable in his own body. It's like his whole life is focused on his intelligence." She pictures him as he explained the concepts today, focused and intent, just two feet away. "He has the prettiest eyes."

"This one hasn't dated your sister, right?"

Beth giggles, flopping onto her pillows. "No. He's from Texas originally. No connection to Maggie at all."

"Well, I'm thinking someone who gives up his evening like this is interested and probably too shy to say so."

The idea of it makes Beth fumble her phone. "He's my tutor."

"Tutor, not professor." Tara smiles encouragingly. "You should ask him out. Worst case scenario, he says no, and you have an awkward tutoring session or two. Better case? You get at least one date with a guy who didn't spend his formative years staring at your sister's boobs."

That does make Beth laugh. "I'll think about it."

"Seize the day. Or the geek, if need be." With a smirk, Tara heads down the hall and Beth hears the door open and close.

The combination of the conversations with Merle and Tara makes her pensive. She knows half of the mood Merle read as being tired and off center is just plain loneliness.

Maybe Tara is right. It can't hurt to ask, right?

Seize the geek indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merle was feeling ignored and snuck over into this story since the other is so crowded. 😏


	6. We're Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eugene's roommate points out his crush on Beth and encourages him to act on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ASL in italics.

Eugene logs off his laptop and puts it on the charger on his desk once he gets the email where Beth states she is calling it a night. It surprised him when she continued to correspond after her homework concluded, asking questions about his substitute teaching that somehow led to a discussion about child psychology. At first, that direction of discussion gave him a visceral reaction, like anyone subject to overanalysis as a child would have.

But it was soon evident by Beth's line of questioning that she was curious about she was curious about child abuse survivors. It makes his gut twist in a different way, hoping that the ethereal, kind young woman experienced no such terrors in her formative years.

He knows more about Beth than he probably should. Access to the college's student database gives him her general details, showing a diligent student with good grades taking a full course load each semester. She's combined online and off-campus classes in a way that makes sense now that he knows she works twenty-six hours a week. He already knew she was a scholarship student because the terms of her privately endowed scholarship required him to submit an assessment of her class performance last semester, not just her grade.

Eugene always checks the details he can before accepting a student for tutoring. His time is limited, and he likes having as much information as possible to decide if he can actually help someone. He knows other tutors don't care, but the idea of accepting pay he doesn't earn is repugnant. This semester, Beth is one of only two students he's accepted.

It's not like he didn't notice her at all last semester. The delicately built blonde stands out in any crowd, but especially among a student population that trends older and more world weary like the population on most satellite campuses catering to non-traditional students. He used to think she would fit in nicely with the groups of giggling coeds back at the Athens campus, visually at least.

After two tutoring sessions, he's now certain she definitely wouldn't blend in among the sorority girls she superficially resembles. Beth Greene is too grounded and works for a living, and not some posh retail job. It was her care toward the workers at the cafe that shifted him from thinking, pretty girl but not interesting, to nice woman very interesting, and prompted the offer of more assistance than their initial tutoring agreement.

His mother waited tables all her life, putting food on the table for the autistic son she was left to raise alone. The ink was barely dry on the paperwork of his diagnosis when Donald Porter packed his old Army duffel and left town when Eugene was eight. He wasn't a complete deadbeat, sending money randomly and sporadically, but it was never anything reliable. The elder Porter didn't intend to live with the disappointment of a son that wouldn't carry in the family legacy of sports and military.

Eugene hasn't heard from him since his mother died when he was thirteen. That's when he was uprooted from his sports-mad school in Texas to cope with an equally sports-obsessed school in Georgia. The primary difference the change in schools made was that his stern and intimidating maternal grandfather demanded a complete reassessment of Eugene's assignment to the special education program.

Nadine Porter did her best, but she never understood she had the right to argue with the district's IEP that placed her son in a special education classroom and never allowed for inclusive education even when he reached middle school. He was quiet and didn't demand attention, so the overwhelmed teachers never rocked the boat either.

Max Alderson demanded the school district in Georgia deliver every last possible service his hard-earned tax dollars paid for. Eugene is fairly sure the high school principal needed a change of pants after the meeting. It resulted in Eugene being dropped into a high school schedule that was exhilarating because it acknowledged his intelligence, yet terrifying because he was plunged relatively unprepared among peers at an age when being different was a very bad thing.

Freshman year was miserable, making him a social outcast in Georgia the way he never was in Texas. Before, he was ignored, because picking on a special ed kid was beneath most bullies. But the weirdo kid that made even the teachers uncomfortable with how he spoke and avoided eye contact? That was a special kind of fair game.

Light shone into his sophomore year three weeks after the start of school. Coach Jackson was an especially assholish basketball coach who considered teaching his required educational classes akin to serving time in a penitentiary. Luckily, American History is easily self-taught, so Eugene was content to hide in the back and read his textbook while Coach rambled on.

Coach upset the system in late September by assigning the new girl to sit next to him, ordering him to show her around. It showed Coach's inability to comprehend reality in assigning a girl who needed to read lips to be guided around by a boy who didn't look at anyone when he spoke. Luckily, Connie was far smarter than their supposed teacher and used to dealing with that type of situation.

He learned sign language. She gave him the first person who didn't get frustrated and tell him, "Boy, look me in the eye when you're talking to me."

She's been his best friend ever since.

Not even his grandfather's glaring, silent objection to his only grandson's friendship with a girl who compounded race with disability on the old man's reason to object wavered Eugene's devotion to his friend. By his senior year of high school, he and his grandfather only spoke when necessary, and the second the door shut behind him after high school graduation, he knew the man was done with him. He did his legally required duty to Eugene until adulthood freed him of further obligation.

There's a knock on his bedroom door frame, drawing his attention to the woman in question. She smiles, looking at the stack of research papers he graded while emailing Beth.

 _Grading all done?_ Connie signs.

 _Four left._ He doesn't have to return them to students until Friday, so he has time, which is why he indulged in the luxury of emails and plain old chatting tonight.

_Bathroom is free. Are you working tomorrow?_

_Thank you._ With only one bathroom, she always lets him know when she and Kelly are done. _At the middle school._ He pauses for effect, because Connie will be entertained by the detail. _Art._

He's right, because she laughs openly at him. Eugene makes a face at her, but she just laughs harder.

It brings Kelly down the hall, looking curious. She's dressed in pajamas like her older sister, bare feet showing off toenails sporting glittery gold nail polish that shines against her dark skin.

 _What is so funny?_ the teenager asks.

 _Eugene is teaching art tomorrow._ Connie barely manages the signing through her giggling.

Kelly joins her sister in laughing. They both know there's little teaching when the district uses a substitute who isn't trained for the material, but the mental images have them tickled pink nonetheless.

_Backstabber._

His response to Kelly doesn't help them stop laughing, but he's just happy they're joyful. Things have been a little tense lately, after Kelly's last trip to the audiologist revealed her hearing is completely gone in one ear and fading in the other.

Connie still feels guilty that she didn't notice sooner. Eugene feels similar, and it's taught him to be more observant. They use sign so much around Connie that it didn't really trigger any concerns when Kelly just stopped speaking around him and only signed. 

Eugene gathers his clothing to go shower, letting their amusement fade. Kelly wanders back to her room, and he hears her stereo start up. Connie looks between the closed door and Eugene, arching a brow.

 _Her music is loud, but happy now._ If Kelly ever starts listening to the angry music that makes proper Southern church mothers shudder and mutter about the devil, he'll pay more attention. _Amber Mark's album._

It always amuses him to talk about music, since the name sign Connie gave him years ago is the ASL sign for a vinyl record. It's both a play on his initials and the rather extensive collection he maintains to this day. His closet stores the collection, kept in protective sleeves and with a dehumidifier to battle the damage Georgia's humidity might deal. An freestanding armoire works well enough for clothes.

_I have an early assignment in the morning. Can you make sure she's up in time for the bus?_

_I will remind her that it's a four day weekend._ The district he substitutes for had their fall break last week, for a full week. Their local one just settles for a four day weekend. Like most teenagers Kelly asked why they can't live in Griffin instead.

Half the reason he is completing his graduate work on the Griffin campus is to continue on as roommate to Connie. Once she confirmed the job with the Macon newspaper after their shared college graduation, he arranged his transfer. Luckily, the university was just delighted to have someone willing to teach the lower level classes and made the shift easily.

He promised her when her parents died in a multi-car accident on I-85 their junior year of college that he would help all he could. It is a promise he intends to keep.

_Thank you. It's past bedtime. Don't stay up too late emailing the pretty girl you're tutoring._

That startles Eugene, and his confusion (and a little embarassment) makes Connie smile and pat his cheek.

_I've seen you with a crush before, Eugene, and you were smiling a lot tonight. That's not from answering questions about **math**. _

The exaggerated expression she makes with math makes him laugh just a little. 

_She is a single mother._

That hadn't come up in their meeting or her school record, but he's seen her with the little boy a few times at the campus cafe on Fridays. He doesn't need to ask why a girl her age is attending college at a small satellite campus after hearing the boy's chatter to his mother.

Eugene used to struggle with understanding facial expressions with people in general, but one of the advantages of becoming fluent with sign language with a deaf tutor was a greater understanding of the non-verbal aspects of language.

He really doesn't need the eye roll that accents Connie's exasperated snort and waving her hand between herself, Eugene, and Kelly's closed door.

 _That's different. We're family._ Connie is the sister biology never gave him, and he's watched Kelly grow up from braces and ballet lessons to rebellious hairstyles and driving lessons.

 _Ask her. If she says no, at least you tried._ Connie shrugs, before pushing him toward the bathroom. She smirks at him before disappearing into her bedroom.

Eugene sighs. Sometimes, he wishes Connie didn't see him through the eyes of someone who loves him as a brother, because she thinks far too highly of his looks compared to most women he's met. It should be easy to play off the reason he doesn't date as his overloaded schedule, but Connie knows how unchallenging most of his classes are for it.

He decides not to worry about it for tonight, getting his shower and shave taken care of. The bathroom is probably the worst feature of their house, but the combination of a single bathroom straight out of the sixties and window air conditioning is why the rent is dirt cheap and even cheaper split between him and Connie.

The mint green tile everywhere makes him wonder if the builder was colorblind, although he supposes he's seen worse. The duplex they had back in Athens had mustard yellow bathroom fixtures and kitchen appliances. Dropping his clothes in the hamper in his room, he eyes his phone for a few moments before opening the email program and skimming the last few emails.

Maybe Connie is right. It's not like Beth seems the type to be offended. He suspects she would be quite sweet and polite in telling him no. At least he can tell Connie he tried.

It's too late to ponder tonight, so he drops the phone on the wireless charging pad. As he settles into the bed, he figures tomorrow is soon enough to sort it all out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed to bring Connie in for _reasons_ , and Eugene needed a roommate, so voila!
> 
> ASL grammar would be nowhere as complex as I used, but for the sake of easy reading, it's in English instead of a direct translation.
> 
> Eugene's name sign is an ASL X spun over the non-dominant hand like a record player's needle.


	7. Accidental Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eugene fails to gather the courage to ask Beth out, but things pan out anyway.

By Friday, Eugene has talked himself out of asking Beth out. But then he sees her with her little son, having lunch at the cafe. The boy's blond hair catches the light as he drinks 'coffee' that Beth charmed the young man behind the counter into making, simply warm, flavored milk in a cup.

Another customer brushes by him where he's hesitating just inside the door. It isn't the first time he's seen her on a Friday with the little boy. The child seems to delight in being in the barn turned cafe.

It takes a deep breath and reminding himself that it's not inappropriate to run into her in a public place they both eat in regularly. He steps forward, going to make his usual Friday order of hot ham and cheese with fruit salad. The employee is one of the regulars, so he nods and sets the bottle of ginger ale on the counter rather than asking Eugene about a fountain drink.

"Eugene?"

Beth's voice interrupts his careful study of his phone while he waits on his order. He tucks it into its belt case and turns.

"Hello, Beth." He hopes his smile looks less nervous than he feels. "Having a lunch date?"

She laughs and pats the little boy's hand. "This is Benjy. Benjy, this is mommy's friend, Eugene."

Benjy just smiles, before offering Eugene a chip from the bag in front of him. Although sour cream chips are ones he typically avoids, he takes it. "Thank you for sharing, Benjy."

"Welcome." Benjy pops the next chip into his own mouth.

"Would you like to join us for lunch?" Beth asks, just as Eugene glimpses his food carton being set on the counter. It's a carryout, since he usually eats in his office on Fridays. But he nods and goes to collect it.

At the table, he takes the seat across from Beth and opens the carton. "You are done with classes for the day?" he asks, inspecting the fruit salad with his fork. It's a seasonal mixture that changes from week to week. This week is warm glazed pears, figs, and grapes. He's uncertain of the idea of roasted grapes, but tries one anyway.

"I'm done for today, yes. What about you?" She smiles at him. "And is the fruit that questionable?"

"I have completed the classes I teach, and I do not maintain office hours on Fridays because no one wants to speak about curriculum difficulties with the weekend pending." He tries another grape and decides he definitely doesn't care for cooked grapes. "I am certain the pears will be quite tasty with this glaze, and possibly the figs, but why anyone would roast grapes is beyond my comprehension."

"I can't imagine that either. Glad I opted for the pasta salad today." The way her nose wrinkles when she rejects the idea is adorable, and that isn't a word he uses often for anyone over the age of five.

"Grapes?" Benjy is suddenly interested in Eugene's food instead of his own, which is a serving of the mentioned pasta salad and chips. 

"Will he eat them?" Eugene asks, curious. He doesn't work with many children this young, since the boy is maybe two years younger than the pre-K program at the school district.

"If you want to give them to him, he will. Honestly, if you put mustard on a napkin and called it bread, Benjy would eat it."

That actually makes Eugene laugh, so he offers the boy one of the grapes by dropping it into the lid of his carton. Benjy snatches it up and crams it in his mouth with a grin. "Tastes good!"

"You are certainly enjoying them more than I would." At Beth's motion, he puts the remaining four grapes in the lid for the boy. "I was given to understand that toddlers are picky eaters."

Beth grins as she takes a drink of whatever she has in her coffee mug. It smells sweet, so he's thinking it is cappuccino, perhaps.

"Someone forgot to give Benjy the memo. My mother swears it is because he never ate baby food, so he's used to eating off everyone's plates. I come from a family that really enjoys their food. Two families if you count my boss's family, and she certainly would."

"Your boss at the cafe?" Eugene doesn't think he's ever had an employer he knew outside of work. He doesn't even spend time with the other teaching assistants outside of work. Perhaps it is an effect of small towns, where one's odds of knowing everyone are higher.

"Everyone in town calls her Grandma Jean, whether they're related to her or not. Officially, she's retired now, but I have a regular invitation to Sunday supper at her home."

"That does sound like much more than your usual professional oversight relationship." He barely restrains the grimace at his word choice, but Beth doesn't seem off-put that he sounds like he's regurgitating a dictionary.

"Her grandson is Benjy's cousin, so there's that connection, too."

"His father's family?" The way she phrased it is confusing, because it doesn't sound like a direct relation to Beth.

She smiles as she steals one of Benjy's chips and munches on it. "No. Henry's mother and Benjy's father are siblings, twins, actually. Henry's father and I try to help each other out when we can, since Henry's mother is away for her medical residency, and Benjy's is on naval deployment."

Eugene files away that information. Benjy is now eyeing the other fruit, and after Beth okays it, he offers the boy a half of a fig. "How old is he? I am unfamiliar with children this small."

"He turned two in June." She trades the now-empty milk cup for a sippy cup from a colorful backpack slung on the back of her chair. "What's the youngest you've taught?"

"Four. Only twice since I started working as a substitute. They tend to prefer the female substitutes for the smallest children."

"That's a bit silly, although I suppose it isn't surprising. What grade will you teach when you are done?"

"With my intended career, it will likely be more fluid than a single grade. My preference would be for a middle or secondary school position."

"You aren't comfortable with young children?" It could be his imagination, but she sounds disappointed.

"I actually find them easier to work with," Eugene says, feeling at a loss on explaining it to someone who isn't Connie, who knows his own background. "But there are many advocates for the younger students, and fewer who want to deal with the more complex issues of teenagers."

"I should introduce you to Grandma Jean sometime. She has a similar concern about teens."

"Was she a teacher?" Eugene doesn't know that he would have much conversation to make with an unfamiliar woman, but he supposes he could be surprised.

"No. She just adopted the types of boys most people politely refer to as being from troubled backgrounds. Even though they're grown and mostly doing well, she's always out to learn more."

Eugene smiles just a little, remembering the worry he had about Beth's questions last night. "She is why you were asking about child abuse survivors last night?"

Beth flushes a pretty shade of pink as she nods. "All five of hers."

Eugene cannot even begin to wrap his mind around the strength of will it takes for someone to continuously take on abused children, but at least they found someone. "I have some training, as I said last night, but only as much as is a necessity for my chosen occupation. However, I could obtain some additional information from colleagues in the psychology department, if you would like further information."

"That would be quite nice." Beth tidies away the empty containers to be discarded and retrieves a wet wipe to clean Benjy's face and hands. She glances at his own finished meal. "Benjy and I usually go to the park after lunch. Would you like to go with us?"

Eugene answers before his brain processes any reason to refuse. "If you would like my company."

Beth actually freezes, biting her bottom lip and looking uncertain. "I would, but I'm sure you have plenty of other things that require your time."

He hates that uncertainty his phrasing engenders in her. "My only plans for the afternoon involved reading chapters that will still be there in a few hours, Beth. I was simply surprised at the invitation. I would like to continue our conversation rather than go home to read a textbook."

The smile that earns him instills in him a strong sense of relief. "If you're sure."

"I am entirely certain I would enjoy an afternoon at the park." It isn't something he would normally choose to do on his own, but it should be quite enjoyable with company such as he will have. He reaches for everything to clear the table. Beth smiles gratefully, unbuckling Benjy from his high chair and setting him on the floor.

By the time he returns to the table for his bag, she has his backpack settled on his shoulders and the chest strap fastened. He realizes the backpack has a toddler leash when Beth extends it. She and Benjy follow him through the doors.

At the park a few blocks away, he parks his Jetta next to her little Civic. Benjy is chanting happily even as Beth opens his door. As soon as his sneakered feet touch the ground, he's running toward the playground.

"I fully comprehend the necessity of the leash earlier," Eugene says, impressed with the boy's speed. Benjy is already hauling his sturdy body up the inclined 'stairs' to the toddler slide.

"You have no idea how vital that thing is. He has no concept of danger yet, for the most part. Some things, like the stove being hot, yes, but running away in public, nope." She leads the way to the end of the slide, catching her son and tickling him before turning him loose to repeat the slide.

Benjy's delighted chatter interrupts any real conversation, but he soon tires of the slide and runs for the swings. They follow, and Beth lifts Benjy into the swing. 

"Push me!" 

His mother moves to sway the swing, but he shakes his head and points at Eugene. "Gene push me."

Beth puts her hands on her hips. "What's the magic word?"

"Please?" 

Eugene thinks those pleading blue eyes on the boy ought to be illegal, but he steps behind him. "I am happy to, to reward such good manners."

It takes far longer for Benjy to tire of the swings than the slide. Beth stands beside Eugene, and the conversation is light-headed introductory stuff. Nothing terribly personal, but filling in blanks for each other like favorite school subjects and her own goal of becoming a game warden.

"All done!" Benjy yells, and Eugene reaches for him automatically when he thrusts his arms out when Eugene stops the swing. He gives Beth a sheepish smile as he sets Benjy on the ground. She doesn't seem offended, but watches the interaction with a sweet smile.

She seems about to say something when Benjy shrieks in a way that isn't as playful as before. He's backing up from something on the side railing of the stairs to the slide. The adults reach it, and Eugene spots the wooley bear caterpillar.

He reaches out and gently coaxes the little caterpillar onto his fingers and lowers him for Benjy to inspect. "He won't hurt you. He's a caterpillar."

Benjy shakes his head in disbelief. "He gots hair."

Beth giggles, muffling it with her hand. "Caterpillars can have hair. They don't all look like the ones Uncle Daryl fishes with."

"Catawbas?" Eugene asks, and Beth nods. "It's like dogs or cats can look different, Benjy. So can caterpillars. This one is called a wooley bear caterpillar. Do you want to hold him?"

Reassured that the small creature really is a caterpillar, Benjy holds out his hand. Eugene eases the critter onto the toddler's palm. "Don't close your hand, or you might squish him."

The boy giggles. "He tickles, mommy."

"I'll bet he does with all that fuzzy hair. Can I hold him?" Beth offers her hand, and Benjy cups his close so the caterpillar drops onto her palm.

"Don't squish, mommy. Gene said so."

Beth nods solemnly, but when she looks up at Eugene, she's biting her lip to hide a smile. Her eyes are shining, though. "Eugene is a very smart man. We'll have to listen."

Her wristwatch beeps, and she sighs. Benjy looks at it and sighs, too, very dramatically. "We go home."

"Yeah, buddy. Mommy has to work tonight." Beth reaches down to release the caterpillar into the grass. "Why don't you get one more slide in?"

Benjy nods and clambers up the stairs, leaving his mother smiling at Eugene. He thinks about Connie's suggestion and tries to find the courage to at least ask. Beth obviously sees him as more than a tutor with inviting him along today. They're at least friends or getting there.

"Eugene? Would you like to have dinner sometime?"

Having Beth voice the words he was trying to say himself makes him fidget in embarassment, but he nods. "I would enjoy that."

The grin she gives him is surprisingly cheerful. "With our schedules, it'll be a weird night for a date, but Monday? My roommate works nights, and she said she would watch Benjy as long as I'm home by 9:30."

The fact that she's already asked her roommate to babysit shows she planned this. It makes something warm and pleasant settle in the center of his chest. "Monday is just fine."

Hell, Monday is more than fine, because it means he'll see her twice that day.

Eugene follows her to collect Benjy from the slide. The boy allows himself to be picked up, settling on Beth's hip and smiling at Eugene.

"Tell Eugene goodbye, Benjy."

He gets a fist offered, which prompts Beth to stage whisper, "fist bump", so he bops the tiny fist with his own. "Bye, Benjy."

"Bye bye, Gene."

At her car, he waits for her to strap Benjy into his car seat. He squirms a little. He'll see her Monday, but that seems a bit late to plan. "I'll text you to work out details?"

"Sure." She surprises him by stepping in close and kissing his cheek before giving him an impish grin and getting into the driver's seat. "Have a good evening, Eugene."

He manages not to touch the cheek she kissed by force of will. "You too, Beth."

Eugene doesn't move toward his car until he sees her turn onto the main road and disappear. His agile mind begins to analyze the afternoon in a different light in perspective of the kiss. 

Somehow he thinks Monday night will be their second date in Beth's eyes. Connie is going to laugh her ass off when she hears he not only didn't ask the lady out, but missed out on the significance of this afternoon until it was over.

Grinning like a fool, Eugene gets into his car. If it takes him a good five minutes to stop holding a hand over the cheek she kissed, there's no one to know but him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Eugene... Missed out on the date until the end. Tricky Beth taking advantage of testing the waters regarding Benjy without making a move up front.
> 
> RL Tip:. Falling out of the shower and having the counter break your fall is NOT recommended. My forearm is one massive bruise, I nearly dislocated a shoulder, hit my jaw on a drawer handle on the way to the floor, and egads, one thigh has a bigger bruise than the forearm.
> 
> And all I could think of on the floor, once I stopped cussing, was that Big Bang Theory episode where Sheldon lectures Penny about adhesive ducks.
> 
> Very ouchie DT today. 🤕


	8. Your Smile is a Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth takes Benjy trick-or-treating at the Harvest Festival and later begins to reconsider her slow-and-steady approach to Eugene.

Although Beth normally works Thursdays, she switched this week with Haley because of Halloween. It’s the first one where Benjy actually understands the basic concept of the holiday, so she’s really excited. Watching him run around the house growling is one of the cutest things she’s ever seen, so she videos it and puts it on Facebook. 

“Let me guess. This town really gets into Halloween?” Tara asks, grinning at Beth from just outside the bathroom door.

Beth grins at her. “Why would you ever guess that?”

“Because you made your costumes, not buying them, and I haven’t missed the signs all week advertising where all the trunk or treat locations are tonight. Plus Sarge warned me our shift is the one that gets the really weird stuff, once the kiddies all go home.”

As Beth contours her face makeup, she hums thoughtfully. “He’s right about that. Although it probably won’t be as crazy with it being a weeknight, you never can tell. Last year, I think they had three separate streakers.”

“Geez. Let’s hope the crazy teenagers stick to toilet paper and eggs tonight then.”

“The teenagers probably will. The adults?” Beth just smirks at her. “Wasn’t teenagers streaking, honey.”

Tara looks a little disturbed, as she should be. Old lady Weston’s annual dance around the Piggly Wiggly parking lot wearing nothing but the camo paint she says makes her invisible is fast becoming a town legend at this point. Everyone excuses it as old age, but Beth’s father swears there’s nothing wrong with the eighty-three year old woman but lowered inhibitions due to knowing people will write it off as senility.

“Will we get any trick or treaters out here?” 

“No. Part of why the town does so many events is that the rural folks like to participate with the kids, and with the spacing of houses out this far, it’s not feasible for kids to go house to house. Why let the townies have all the fun?”

“Sounds reasonable. Can’t say I don’t like the idea better of kids staying off the streets more than in them since drivers aren’t always cautious enough.”

Putting away the face paints, Beth tugs her hood up and poses. “What do you think?”

“Looks terrific, although I had no idea what you were going for until you put the hood up. Cloudjumper to his Toothless?”

“Yep.” It took some finangling to get the hoodie design correct for Cloudjumper, since his head is more complex than Toothless’s, but she thinks she got it right if she doesn’t have to explain the character. “I thought about actual wings, but last time I had a winged costume, it was a pain to get in and out of the car with.”

“We ready, Mama?” Benjy calls out, ceasing his growling exploration of the couch when he sees Beth exit the hall bathroom.

“We are. Where’s your treat bag?”

“Right here!” He tugs the canvas bag off the coffee table and brandishes the black cat themed thing at her and Tara. “We go see Gramma?”

“That’ll be our first stop, I promise.”

It doesn’t take any coaxing at all to get Benjy in the car. She invites Tara along, but the other woman just grins and shakes her head. “I’m going to nap before my shift. It seems like I may need it.”

Beth just giggles and backs out of the driveway. Her parents’ church doesn’t officially have a ‘Halloween’ celebration, opting for a middle ground with a Harvest Festival instead. But they really go all out with it, with less of the preachiness that some other churches add to their community celebrations. With the hayfield next to the church done for the year, the farmer who owns it loans it out to the church for tonight, so they have the five acre field plus the lower parking lot for activities.

She parks her car, glad she’s opting for doing this early, when most of the kids are small or related to the small ones. Most of the middle and high schoolers will end up at the community center, anyway, since they host a dance there in an attempt to keep the kids out of more destructive mischief. 

Benjy looks around with wide eyes. He’s used to the church lot having a lot of cars from attending each week with her parents, but this is definitely different.

“What do you want to do first, Benjy?”

“Gramma.”

Beth hides her smile and takes his hand. “She’s doing face paint tonight, so how about we go find her?” The fact that Annette Greene is one of the artists is part of why she didn’t paint anything on Benjy’s face.

There’s a small line at the booth, but Benjy’s still so fascinated with everything around him that he doesn’t get anxious. “There are ponies, Mama.”

Looking over at the small fenced off area that doubles as pony rides and petting zoo, she grins. Although Benjy has a pony at her parents’ farm, he still remains intrigued by the animals regardless. She knows exactly where they’re headed next. Knowing Benjy, he may forget all about the candy and treats in favor of spending the entire time at the petting zoo.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite dragon ever!” Annette’s grin is wide and happy as she reaches out to hug Benjy tightly. Her costume is a simple one, just face paint and pretty wings to imitate a bee. “Does Gramma get to paint your dragon face on?”

Benjy nods, plopping into the chair and making an odd face. It takes Beth a minute to realize he’s mimicking her in front of the mirror earlier, and she has to giggle. Annette just motions for Beth to take a picture before starting in on the paint. It doesn’t take her half as long as it took Beth to do her own makeup, and the toddler ends with his cute little face a reasonable imitation of Toothless. After her daughter gets a final shot of Benjy’s new face, Annette presses a kiss to the top of the boy’s hoodie and sets them on their way.

She’s correct in guessing that Benjy will spend most of the time he’s allowed between the ponies and the farm animals in the petting zoo that was hired to come in from a neighboring county, but eventually a rumbling tummy brings even his love of animals to an end. They’re in line for hot dogs and drinks when Benjy yells out Henry’s name and starts bouncing impatiently. Beth looks up and sees almost a full contingent of Grandma Jean’s people at a table with food scattered between them.

Since Daryl’s motioning for her to send Benjy over, she figures getting their food is easier that way. The toddler starts off at a run, before stumbling to a walk at the reminder Daryl calls out. It lets Beth ponder their food. Benjy wanted hot dogs, and she originally was going to stick with that, because juggling food and her son is tricky on the best days. The food is a fundraiser for the local food bank’s holiday meal programs, so splurging is for a good cause. 

When she gets her food, she blows a kiss to her daddy, in the back manning the grill for the hamburgers. Hershel smiles in return, adjusting the wild white wig that she’s not entirely sure is supposed to make him Einstein or Doc Brown from the _Back to the Future_ movies.

Daryl’s stolen a chair away from another table to wedge Beth at the end when she reaches the table, and she isn’t surprised at all to see that Benjy’s already eating off someone’s plate.

“I didn’t know you and Eric were coming down for Halloween, Aaron,” she says, after greeting everyone. Aaron is feeding Benjy from his nachos, scooping a single jalapeno on each one, with the toddler perched on one knee.

“The high school asked me to do a presentation to help kick off the November food drive tomorrow, so we drove down tonight.” The bearded man smiles as Benjy pushes his nachos slightly aside to take the hot dog Beth offers him. 

Work in Atlanta this time of year usually keeps Aaron pretty busy, so Beth’s glad it coincided for him to visit before Thanksgiving. Jean is actually sitting in between Aaron and Eric, although her attention is on her grandson-in-law more than Aaron right now. Neither Aaron nor Eric are in costume, although they’ve both had their faces painted, with Eric sporting pirate paint and Aaron dalmatian spots. It’s Jean that makes Beth nearly choke on her drink when she really focuses on the older woman.

“Just noticed she’s Ursula?” Aaron asks, exchanging a grin with Daryl across the table. 

The other man is concentrating on getting Henry to eat all of his hot dog and not just the bun, but laughs. “There’s like four little Ariels here, and three of them screeched happily and hugged her, but one won’t come anywhere near.”

“Personally, I’m a little more disturbed by Shane and Rick as Elsa and Anna, but the kids seem to find it hilarious.”

Beth studies the other end of the table. “I’m more impressed that they convinced Lori to be Olaf.” They don’t have Carl with them, and she thinks Lori definitely shows that twitchy look of a mom away from her baby for the first time. 

She takes the time to study the remainder of the table. Jessie and her boys are there, although their costumes are fairly standard, both boys as different superheroes and Jessie herself wearing pink fairy wings. Dianne seems to be visiting the table, not actually sitting to eat, and the lieutenant for the local detention facility is definitely aiming for a contrast to her law enforcement career in a mermaid costume.

Carol and Sophia are probably the cutest damn thing ever. “Is Sophia a piece of candy corn?” she asks, giggling. 

Hearing her daughter’s name, Carol turns from where she was listening to Eric and Jean and smiles shyly. “I told Jean they don’t usually put candy corn in a pinata, but it is cuter than bubble gum or peppermint.” The young woman motions to her costume, which is unmistakably meant to make her seem like a pinata, although she has Hello Kitty face paint. “I’m still trying to figure out how Daryl escaped.”

The man scoffs, shaking his leather vest with a thumb. “I am in costume.”

“Daryl, if it wasn’t for the little raptor dinosaurs peeking out of those vest pockets, I would never have guessed Jurassic World,” Beth tells him before turning to Carol. “He gets sneaky like this every year. Just enough dress up that Grandma Jean won’t make him a costume.”

“After Raggedy Andy, do you blame me?” Daryl grumbles. Beth actually remembers that costume, because he was a senior in high school and Maggie was Raggedy Ann. Henry’s costume is a match for Jody’s, not Daryl’s, making the toddler a tiny Robin to Jody’s Batman.

“You could have opted for Alfred, all things considered,” Aaron suggests as Jody gets bored with his spot between Carol and Daryl and heads down the table to climb up in Shane’s lap. 

“Daryl in a suit?” Beth thinks it over and winks Daryl. “That would be interesting to see.”

The man in question just rolls his eyes and rescues his soda from Henry’s grasp. “World won’t survive you drinking Dr. Pepper, little man. That qualifies as a weapon of mass destruction.”

Tears and a tantrum threaten, until Beth slides Benjy’s Bug Juice toward Henry. She’s got Sprite that her own toddler will be more than happy with. Daryl pauses in his search for an elusive sippy cup in the backpack he has, giving her a grateful smile.

Conversation descends into confirming the other children haven’t wandered the trunk or treat candy lot yet, so when everyone finishes eating, they head that way, somehow ending up grouped with Michonne and her son and Ellen Ford and her two children along the path. It’s an adventure that really does seem to require the vast outnumbering of adults to children, and Beth appreciates the extra hands because it means she can snap many more pictures than she expected. 

She makes sure to get everyone’s costumes documented, including Shawn and the Harrison sisters from where they’re helping with the trick or treating. Working the event, theirs are toned down like her parents’ costumes, nothing scary, but cute nonetheless. Being a church hosted event, most attendees keep their costumes away from gore or skimpy and inappropriate. The community center event is a different story there, and Beth has fond memories of years experimenting with just how far into the silly ‘sexy’ costumes she could go without getting grounded for it.

It is definitely a sign she’s gotten older that she likes the color and creativity here even better than the rebellion of her teenage years.

Aaron carries Benjy back to her car as the Harvest Festival shifts from daylight to the portable lighting they’ve rented for the evening. Her son’s blond head lolls against Aaron’s shoulder as he lets out a little snore. She can’t resist a picture of that, either.

“You are gonna be a great dad one day,” she tells him. 

He just smiles and eases Benjy into his carseat. “Can you keep a secret?”

That makes Beth arch a brow, which she knows probably looks epicly weird with her Cloudjumper makeup. “I get the gossip the family doesn’t? Sure!”

Aaron finishes securing Benjy’s straps and leans against the car. “We’re afraid to jinx it, so we haven’t even told Grandma Jean yet. But we passed our home study to start the adoption process.”

She can’t help the enthusiastic hug she gives Aaron. “I hope it all goes perfectly.”

“Me too. Eric is almost beside himself waiting for the social worker to call.” Looking down at Benjy sleeping, Aaron’s expression is so hopeful that it makes Beth’s heart ache. “I’ll let you get him home. Eric and I are helping with the haunted house in the fellowship hall.”

“Didn’t dodge my mama fast enough, huh?” she teases, but gives him another hug before letting him go.

The drive home is a quiet one, although Benjy rouses long enough to help a little bit with his bath before stumbling to his room in his little purple footie pajamas. Tara emerges from her room looking sleepy as Beth finishes tucking the boy into bed.

“He get mountains of candy?” the deputy asks, going to the coffee pot and pressing the button to wake it up.

“Far more than he’ll ever eat. What’s your favorite?” Beth asks, tipping the bag out onto the table. While the church event is careful to have toddler friendly candy available, there’s probably enough here to keep her, Tara, and Benjy happily in sugar for two weeks.

“Any Reeses cups?” She catches the single package cup Beth tosses her way with ease. “Thanks. Domino is still outside. I think the possum’s back.”

Beth sighs as she digs a package of sour patch kids out of the candy loot. “I keep forgetting to ask Daryl to come set a trap for it before Domino actually catches it by accident. I’m not sure who will be more traumatized, him or the possum.”

Coffee ready, Tara grins. “I’m putting my money on Domino. Possums are crafty little critters.”

Deciding to text Daryl while she’s thinking about it, Beth pops two of the sour gummies in her mouth and digs her phone out of the fanny pack she put her wallet and a few emergency supplies for Benjy in. She doesn’t expect an immediate answer, since the man’s got two kids to get settled for the night, so the chime of her phone startles her.

She smiles when it’s actually Eugene, who sent her a picture of his roommate’s teenage sister dressed as Princess Leia along with thanks from Connie for letting them know about the King County teen event. She replies with compliments on the costume and follows it with a copy of a shot of her and Benjy. When she looks up at Tara, the other woman is grinning slyly at her.

“That’s your besotted look. I’m guessing that reply was not from Daryl.”

Beth shakes her head, showing Tara the girl’s costume. “Besotted? Have you been reading my mama’s historical romance novels?” Annette’s secret love particularly of regency romances is not really a secret among her family and friends. 

“No, but you have to admit the word fits that look you get when you think about him. You going to see him tomorrow?”

“He invited us to eat lunch with him.” Their official date Monday night was dinner and a movie, and Beth got the distinct sense that Eugene is even more shy about the dating process than she suspected he was. She doesn’t object, because rushing into things hasn’t actually panned out well for her in the past. It’s far easier to talk with him as he tutors her than it was with the expectations of a ‘date’ hovering over them that kept him tense and less eloquent than usual all night.

“Your schedules do make things a bit weird, but at least you know he’s comfortable around Benjy.”

When Beth’s phone chimes again, this time with Eugene complementing the matching costumes, Tara just giggles and shoos her away as she moves to microwave something to eat. Although she really should shower to get her own Halloween get up done away with, Beth finds herself lingering over texting with Eugene and putting up all her pictures on Facebook. When she’s done, she figures why not and sends Eugene a friend invite. She’s pretty sure that fits any dating etiquette when they’ve already got a third one set up, no impatience on her part at all.

After her shower, she lets Domino inside and sprawls on her bed and scrolls through the messages between her texts and Facebook. Most are family, family friends, and a couple of random old high school friends who still linger on Facebook, as well as Daryl promising to come out and set up a trap for her unwelcome visitor. She smiles at Dennis’s “cutest damned dragons ever seen” and notes that he’s shared several to his own page, including the growling video of Benjy pacing through the house.

Eugene hasn’t replied yet, so Beth opts for reading a chapter in her textbook until she’s almost asleep under the book against her pillows. The phone’s chime startles her, but the text reply from the man makes it worth the wait.

_Your smile lights up everyone around you in all your pictures like a gift._

There’s a pause, and then her phone chimes again.

_I may not comprehend why you are including me in that gift yet, but seeing you smile is almost all I can think of tonight._

Her reply is not nearly as poetic. _I’ll just have to try harder to make you understand._

As she dozes off, she wonders if maybe slow isn’t the way to go with the shy, intriguing man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, this chapter was supposed to include about half Eugene, but the Muse went rogue and this happened instead. :)
> 
> Honestly, my plan was for about half of it to be Halloweenish, then a shift to them on the phone, but it just didn't go that way. I'll probably put in a Eugene & Connie chapter before another one with them actually together, just because I have discovered I do not write general date stuff easily or well. o.O


	9. Just as Devoted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie soothes some of Eugene's insecurity and asks him to invite Beth to meet her and Kelly.

Eugene supposes that the Facebook invitation wasn’t entirely unexpected. After Monday’s date mimicked most other awkward dates he’s been on, he expected Beth to give up the effort. Instead, he got another kiss on the cheek, a sweet smile, and a request that he keep next Monday free, too. The happy, sometimes randomly silly, texting continued, and both tutoring sessions helped settle his jumpiness about shifting their status to dating. Walking her to her car both days got him another kissed cheek, too.

He wonders if she’s waiting on him to shift from those chaste kisses to something more. Everything he’s ever seen about dating indicates it’s probably welcome for him to do so, or she wouldn’t be stepping into his personal space so much.

But uncertainty sets in as he sees the commentary from her ex-husband on her photos from tonight. Not wanting to be an online stalker, he resists clicking on the man’s actual profile, but it’s a close call. Beth discussed in passing how they never would have married if not for Benjy and realized quickly that shared parenthood did not make for a viable marriage. The fact that they’ve remained friends seems admirable.

 _You look like you’re working yourself into a mess_ , Connie says, after rapping on the door frame to get his attention. 

_Didn’t hear you get home. Kelly have fun?_ Eugene is ignoring the commentary about himself for now.

 _Yes. Didn’t really want to leave, but school night and all._ She comes and plops onto the bed next to him, leaning into his shoulder and studying his laptop once she realizes it’s not anything work related. _Getting a glimpse into Beth’s social media?_

Eugene sighs, fiddling with the edge of the laptop case, even as Connie shifts so that she’s facing him. He misses the closeness of the sisterly affection, but she obviously intends to continue the conversation. After so many years as her best friend, he is smart enough to bend to the inevitable. _I am nothing like anyone she dated before._

It isn’t just Dennis that digs into his soft underbelly of insecurity, although the smiling man in the profile picture in his naval uniform definitely makes him think. Beth mentioned another old boyfriend in passing on Wednesday as they walked back to her car, laughing about how she got dumped for her age and the man’s wife is now younger than she is. He’s about ninety percent certain it’s the Rick in her Halloween photos, a man whose looks tend almost more toward pretty than handsome.

 _Did you ever consider that might be the point?_ Connie arches a brow, before promptly stealing his laptop. _Who?_

Even as Eugene gives her the names, he studies himself while he waits on her to look for whatever she’s looking for. An oversized shirt from his high school days is loose on his frame now, and he does have to cinch up the old sweatpants from the same era. Maybe he isn’t the heavy kid Connie met in tenth grade anymore, but he has nothing on a navy sailor and a cop for physical fitness. That’s disregarding any aesthetic considerations, since he does have to admit that neither man really looks like the other.

Although now he knows where Benjy’s hazel eyes come from in more detail than the basic assumption that obviously his father since Beth’s eyes are a beautiful, crystalline blue.

Apparently Connie doesn’t worry about the online stalking, because she takes a while before she turns the laptop back around. It’s a Christmas picture, and both of the men in question are part of the large group shot. Eugene checks the image tags, recognizing several names, including Henry’s father holding a small infant version of the toddler Beth shared pictures of and Dennis with Benjy on his shoulders. He’s guessing the woman between Daryl and Dennis is Henry’s mother, Denise.

Beth’s in the picture, too, flashing bunny ears on her sister and the dark-haired man between Maggie and Rick. _This is her other family_ , he explains. He isn’t entirely certain himself, other than the fact that she seems to consider her ‘Grandma Jean’ an actual grandmother. Both sets of her biological grandparents died before Beth was ever born. _Maggie is her sister, but I don’t see Shawn or her parents here._

 _They are all in many of the pictures_ , Connie notes. _She has a lot of support._

That’s something Eugene is glad to acknowledge. Beth isn’t floundering like Nadine Porter did, struggling to keep herself and her son fed, clothed, and housed. _I think the whole town may be a bit interlinked._

He hasn’t even visited Beth’s hometown, unlike Connie, who went tonight with Kelly. But the stories Eugene heard makes him build up this Hallmark movie-ish place he has no idea how someone like him even fits into. A glance at the picture, matching names to faces that Beth’s mentioned as ‘Jean’s boys’ reminds him that, pleasant stories or not, he’s looking at a family the elderly woman built by rescuing abused boys. Only the man Beth’s perching her small hand atop his hair is actually Jean’s by blood.

There’s a moment, looking at those gleeful and content faces, where he wonders how different his life might have been if his grandfather were like Jean. It sets a sour feeling in his stomach, feeling ungrateful that the old man did take him in when he could have claimed old age and sent Eugene off to some group home. He wasn’t a kind or affectionate man, but he wasn’t physically abusive either. Feeling jealous of men who suffered so much as boys before Jean took them in seems petty.

_It did seem everyone knew everyone tonight, but they welcomed Kelly easily. I think she might wish we moved there instead of here, after that._

Eugene considers that. Their little town is nice enough, but it’s tiny with a lot of focus toward the police training center, and them being outsiders definitely stands out. He suspects the inability to accurately classify race on Connie and Kelly baffles the locals and makes it harder for Kelly to fit in.

_I can ask Beth if there are other events like that._

Connie’s smile turns a little sly. _Or you can invite her to supper here, and let me and Kelly ask ourselves._

As much as that seems like it might be rushing things, with one informal and one formal date behind them, Eugene considers it. Connie understands people better than he ever will. _That is not too soon?_

Laughing, she shakes her head, curls bouncing with the movement. _If you were perfect strangers, yes. But you see each other twice a week on top of the two dates. You are having lunch tomorrow, right?_

_After she picks up Benjy from daycare._

A knowing look passes over Connie’s face, and he remembers her laughing at him after he told her about the day at the park last Friday. _Eugene, she is deliberately spending time with you and her son. That’s what you need to look at, not that you are different from her usual friends._

When he frowns, she reaches out and shakes his shoulders, her affectionate version of ‘wake up, idiot boy’, as she once termed it.

_Little brother, how many guys have you seen me introduce to Kelly?_

Eugene pauses to think about that. Even before their parents died, Connie only took one boyfriend home to meet her family. Nick was a nice enough guy, but he graduated not long before Connie’s parents died and transferred north to Boston for graduate school near his maternal grandparents. Since then, there was one guy, James, that Connie dated for about six months, and it took four of those before he met Kelly or Eugene.

His face must show the realization, because she bonks him on the nose with a finger. _Light bulb moment?_

Laughing at the silly gesture, Eugene nods. He honestly doesn’t think his mother dated, but if Nadine did, she never introduced a single man to her son. _I will ask her. Maybe a Saturday lunch, not a supper?_ Beth has so few evenings free that he hates to take one of those away from her.

_Works for me. I will make empanadillas either way._

_Would a two year old like those? She might bring her son._ He’s always enjoyed the Puerto Rican cooking Connie’s mother passed on to her daughters, but despite Beth saying Benjy would eat a napkin if you put mustard on it, he doesn’t want the toddler left out. 

_Hard to tell. I will have some nuggets or fish sticks here, just in case. I will not starve the baby._

That makes Eugene feel a little sheepish. There are usually a variety of easy to fix foods stashed in the freezer. While Kelly might like to help cook for special occasions, no teenager wants to spend ages just getting an after school snack together.

Connie reaches out and closes his laptop. _Do not worry yourself into failure. She is lucky to have **you**. It is not a one way street._

Eugene watches her take the laptop to his desk and plug it in. She rummages in his DVD shelf and slides a disc into the player, coming back to prop herself next to him on the bed. As he reaches for the remote to start the movie, he feels her fingers lace with his, and she squeezes his hand before leaning out enough to sign one last thing. 

_Not every woman will be a worthless bitch like **she** was._ The rude gesture that replaced the young woman's once fond name sign is emphasized with a fierce frown. 

Is it a sign of Eugene’s own lack of self-esteem that Connie remains far more angry about his faithless ex-girlfriend than Eugene himself is? Probably, but that’s the appeal of Beth. Nothing about the cheerful, hardworking young woman reminds him in any way about his one and only college girlfriend. They don’t even share the same coloring. 

Kelly halts in passing by in the hallway, stepping in to see what is on the television. _Hey, no watching the X-Men without me!_ The teenager scrambles up on the bed, wedging Connie even closer to Eugene before batting her eyes at him. _Popcorn?_

Laughing because she deliberately got comfortable when she could have gone and gotten it herself, he slides off the end of the bed and heads for the kitchen. As he waits on the air popper to deliver the fluffy kernels, he shudders a little. He hasn’t thought of Sarah in a year, at least, doing his damndest to forget that episode of his life ever happened. 

Two years, sophomore and junior year of college, spent carefully devoted to a girl whose purity ring and religious faith dictated a very sedate romantic pace. He didn’t mind it at the time, respecting that her strict faith with its restrictions on hair and dress made her stand out much the same way as his autism did him. Too bad that in the end, she broke with him as much as she did her childhood faith. 

Nothing like a girl you’ve barely kissed telling you she’s pregnant to end the relationship, right? 

Even that, he might have forgiven, even if they broke up over it, if it was a one time moment of weakness. That kind of mistake isn’t exactly uncommon at college, especially when someone restricted on behavior finally cuts ties with what kept them holding back. But when he went to return some things Sarah left at his and Connie’s apartment, her roommate in the dorm viewed him with pity and spilled the beans. 

It might have started out genuinely, Sarah dating him, but for the last year, he was simply her cover story to her parents. The Crawfords definitely would prefer awkwardly polite education major Eugene to the frat boy football player that landed their daughter in the family way before she could complete her own education degree. Her father even called him to apologize for his daughter’s misconduct. 

That ranks among the worst conversations he’s ever had with anyone, topping even Sarah’s pregnancy announcement and having to tell Connie about it all. 

Shaking off the upsurge in ugly thoughts, Eugene separates the popcorn into three bowls, spraying each down with cooking spray. None of them like the exact same popcorn topping, so it’s always best to just do it this way. Cinnamon and sugar for Kelly’s sweet tooth, ranch topping for Connie’s weird taste buds, and chili lime for his. It’s such a set routine that the toppings are in their own little hand painted shakers on the kitchen counter. 

When he gets back to his room, the girls have the movie paused. They’ve also made it really obvious tonight is somehow about spoiling him, because the middle is the only spot left open. Once he’s settled, a bowl of warm popcorn in his lap and his adopted sisters tucked on either side, he thinks his extended family might not be as large as Beth’s, but he thinks they’re just as devoted. 

Eugene really hopes Beth likes them both - and that they like Beth. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to go with Angel Theory's Puerto Rican background for both Connie and Kelly in this. It's one that often baffles Southerners because it doesn't fit easily into one silly census check box.
> 
> Poor Beth might be facing a double shovel talk at that lunch. o.O


	10. Absolutely Worth the Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a day at the zoo with Benjy and supper with Connie and Kelly, Beth and Eugene explore where they want their relationship to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline note... This backpedals a little from _No Evil Dooms Us_ , taking place before the Merle homecoming chapter and Beth's matchmaker plot.

Beth isn't entirely surprised that she gets a shy invitation to meet the two women Eugene considers his sisters. It's not like her own mama isn't dropping hints. Grandma Jean is ignoring the concept of hint entirely and outright putting out an invitation for Thanksgiving for Eugene's entire little family. 

The fact that they haven't been dating a full month doesn't seem to matter, not with them having the tutoring sessions as well. Those seem to be considered bonus geeky dates, to use Tara's laughing term for it. Beth isn't sharing with anyone except Tara just how glacier slow they're progressing.

It took a couple of weeks to coordinate the lunch. Beth swears it is like fate is conspiring to delay everything. Benjy gets sick the first Monday night, and she works a Saturday double shift that same week. The next Monday, though, Eugene and Beth take advantage of the federal holiday giving them both the day off to take Benjy to the zoo in Atlanta.

It was a success, at least as far as taking a two year old to a major city zoo is successful. Benjy wore himself out as he always does, and Eugene is his best friend for life because he rode the train twice with the toddler. Then again, the man's willingness to spend half the time they looked at animals patiently explaining each animal in the reptile area to her snake and lizard obsessed son might also be part of that.

Beth glances to Eugene, who is concentrating on the freeway traffic as they navigate their way to his house. She strapped Benjy's seat into Eugene's car, figuring it made more sense with the plans at his home later. The boy is sleeping so soundly right now that he's actually snoring here and there, small arms clenched around the book on snakes Eugene helped him pick out. It's intended for school age children, but that's why he has a mama to read to him.

"If he is overtired, we can reschedule this rendezvous for another time more amenable to Benjy's energy levels."

It was an exciting day for Benjy, timed so that he catnapped on the way up to Atlanta and crashed before they walked back to the car. "He's just recharging his batteries right now. If he can rest for an extra half hour when we arrive, he'll be in top form."

"It won't wake him to get him out of his car seat contraption?"

Beth laughs, shaking her head. "No, he's used to sleeping through being moved around."

It's not her imagination that Eugene relaxes a little when they pass the exit that would take them to her home. He doesn't live that far away, not by freeway especially, just halfway between her hometown and Macon. It makes her a little sad that he expected her to take the chance to cancel their later plans.

The closer they get to his house, the tenser Eugene gets again. She's not sure what is winding him up, because his sisters sound lovely. Benjy will be overjoyed to meet new people. They pull into his driveway next to an eighties model Ford Mustang hatchback that she thinks Daryl would adore.

Deciding to settle things down a little before they go inside, Beth reaches out to capture his hand when he fumbles for his keys. It takes a minute for him to calm and smile as she rubs her thumb over his knuckles. When Eugene smiles at last, she decides what the hell and leans in to kiss him.

Having their first real kiss in the driveway before meeting his family wasn't what she planned, but the opportunity hasn't come up properly since she resolved to take the lead. Eugene freezes at the first brush of her lips, but then she reaches for the nape of his neck with her free hand. The barely there pressure to encourage him works, and hesitantly, he deepens the kiss.

God, it was worth the wait. He tastes sweet like the cotton candy they bought on the way out of the zoo. The easy way he lets her lead brings her growing idea that he's relatively inexperienced in this to full bloom. That, combined with the potential for a sisterly audience, leads her to pull away at last. Beth doesn't move her hand from his neck, though, stroking her fingers gently against his skin.

Eugene blinks at her for a moment, before flushing slightly. "Not that I want to vocalize any objections to that delightful and entirely unexpected experience, but why now?"

"You were worrying yourself into a state about this supper." She smiles sweetly. "You spent most of the day making sure my little boy had a lovely day, and even now you're probably worrying more for me, and him, and the ladies waiting on us than yourself, right?"

He nods and manages a faint smile, so she leans in for another kiss. Might as well show him the first one wasn't just about soothing his nerves. There's less holding back from him this time, and it leaves them both smiling.

Movement on the porch alerts her they do have an audience, but she doesn't tattle on the teenager sneaking back inside. Beth remembers being that curious once, with Maggie and Shawn always ahead of her in everything. "I say we head inside before they come fetch us, if they're anything like my family."

Eugene actually laughs. "They would, especially to get a faster peek at Benjy."

Moving away from each other, Beth can't help the soppy expression she knows she has as Eugene lifts Benjy from his seat once she navigates the boy out of his car seat straps. Following him inside with the diaper bag, she glimpses the ladies of the house but Eugene doesn't stop for introductions. They just get a wave from him that Beth copies.

The room he leads her to seems so perfectly fitting for him. She looks around curiously before he calls her name. "Will he be okay on the bed?"

"Yes. Just put him near the headboard and split the pillows to either side in case he does roll over. He's actually pretty limber on getting off beds now." Plus Eugene's bed isn't anything raised crazy high by a specialty frame or mattress. "And he'll more than likely just yell when he wakes up."

With the toddler sprawled comfortably on the bed, Beth steps in for a quick hug. "Something smells amazing."

He hesitates for a second, but then she feels a quick press of lips to her temple as he returns the hug. "Empanadillas, if Connie didn't change her plans."

Beth links her fingers with his as he leads them back to the big open room that combines the living room and kitchen. Both ladies are looking curious and anxious, much like Beth herself is feeling. Eugene, too, because his fingers flex in hers before he lets go to introduce them properly.

The nerves get eased away as conversation quickly becomes about the meal Connie is finishing up. She's concerned about Benjy, with everything being new foods for him. Eugene translates with ease of habit, although Beth notices Connie is lip reading to an extent.

"I think he'll like everything, once he wakes up." Beth's a little more concerned about herself, since she's never eaten anything with plantains, much less seen them prepared similar to mashed potatoes.

Connie smiles, pausing in stirring the dish of rice and pigeon peas that smells delicious. _So he is not a picky eater like Kelly and Eugene._

The way her smile shifts to a grin tells Beth she's exaggerating to tease them.

”Liking chicken tenders and pizza is not picky,” Kelly protests, speaking even as she signs. ”All smart people should hate brussel sprouts and cabbage. They stink!”

"And what is your food Kryptonite?" Beth asks Eugene, curious.

He squirms a bit, looking down, making Connie's expression soften from teasing to concerned. She reaches out to tap Eugene on the forearm gently, making him look up. When she gestures toward Beth and makes a sign Eugene doesn't translate, he sighs.

"I have trouble coping with the temperature contrast on cold foods. The smell of tuna makes me feel violently ill, as does most odoriferous fish and meats like liver. There are other issues, but those are the most obvious and worst ones."

It explains why every time she's seen Eugene drink anything, he selects bottled soda that can be given to him at room temperature, or he opts for a hot drink. He looks so uncertain that she can't resist slipping an arm around his waist and leaning against him.

"Tuna is disgusting, so we'll get along just fine on that one." When he smiles shyly, she winks at him. "And you'll find I am perfectly happy not sharing my ice cream."

Kelly grins, giving her a double thumbs up. "That's what I tell him. He gets the banana pudding, and I get the rocky road ice cream."

Benjy calls out, and Eugene steps away to go get him.

 _I didn't mean to embarrass him_ , Connie explains quickly as Kelly translates. _I thought he would say tuna. Many people don't like tuna._

"It's good to know." Beth suspects there will be more such moments of Eugene revealing something he expects will be confusing or off-putting to her.

Benjy's greetings and introductions reset the mood, and they're soon gathered around the homey little table with her son perched on a couple of textbooks fetched from Eugene's room. As Beth predicted, he plows through the new food like he's been eating it all his life.

The coconut pudding for dessert has Beth about deciding she might trade siblings if Connie can make this wonderful confection from scratch. She says as much, making the sisters giggle and Eugene smile.

"Tembleque is just coconut milk, sugar, and corn starch, with cinnamon, citrus, and vanilla to flavor it as you prefer," Kelly explains. "I can send you the recipe."

Beth pops her phone out to let the teenager add her contact information, and she doesn't miss that it has Connie's, too, when it's returned. She hopes it's as much a sign that they like her as a way to be a little nosy without Eugene in the middle. Even Denise, as reserved as she is, did something similar, when Beth started dating Dennis.

Post supper conversation is light and easy, but comfortable. Beth notes that Benjy is winding down again, so she reluctantly suggests it's time to leave. "On Saturday, you should all come to my place for lunch. We can barbeque if the weather is decent."

The sisters exchange a look and nod in unison, so Eugene just smiles. "How many of your conglomerate of family members will be present for inspection?"

He sounds amused, so she shrugs with a sly smile. "I'll try to keep it to a half dozen."

Merle will be home by then, and she knows the gruff man will almost be worse than Beth's own daddy and Shawn about wanting a close look at Eugene. At least with the sisters present, it's a larger buffer, and a smaller crowd than a Sunday dinner, or worse, Thanksgiving.

"Noon on Saturday, then."

Once that's agreed to, they hustle sleepy eyed Benjy to the car and head toward Beth's home. Eugene is pensive on the drive, although he responds to Beth's occasion chatter with his usual aplomb. Beth jots off a thank you text to both Kelly and Connie along the way. At the house, he surprises her by accepting her invitation inside, something he declined after previous dates.

The joys of motherhood mean it involves bathtime and storytime, but none of that phases Eugene. As Beth shuts Benjy's light off and joins Eugene in the living room, she pauses to enjoy the sight of him gently petting Domino. The pit bull has his head propped in Eugene's lap, barely twitching when Beth appears.

"I see Domino found a new person to spoil him endlessly."

"He is a considerably well behaved dog for a terrier breed. Very docile, which I confess I did not expect."

"Oh, give him something to chase and bark at, and he's hyperactive enough. But indoors, he turns into a giant stuffed animal."

"I will endeavour to keep that in mind if we are outdoors."

Beth shoos the dog off the couch to steal his spot. She sits sideways, facing Eugene, and leans in for a kiss. It brings the inticing promise of earlier back to mind, as they aren't confined by vehicle seats. She's still careful not to push too far or too fast, remembering his hesitation earlier. 

He's got her face cupped between his hands by the time they come up for air. Beth knows now she definitely wants to see where this goes, but Eugene looks as much worried as intrigued.

"Is this okay?" she asks, mind skimming across the volumes of autism and sensory input information she may have peeked into once they began dating. "Or is it too much?"

Eugene gives her a sheepish smile, letting his hands drop softly to her shoulders. "It's quite wonderful, I assure you. But I am uncertain of where it should lead and how quickly is appropriate."

It reminds her of what she suspected earlier. If kissing is unique for him, the rest likely is, too. "I would like it to lead to you staying the night, but that doesn't have to be tonight unless you're ready for that step."

Beth may have felt a little sex deprived when she decided to date again, but rushing into things tends to be what got her in trouble before. It wasn't just sex she missed, but someone in all the other parts of her life.

"I do not believe I am quite to the stage of spending the night," Eugene says at last. "It would be a significant step for me, one I would dearly love to be more certain we are both enamored of taking."

Beth shifts so that she's more cuddling him than enticing him. "I am more than happy with that." 

He spent the day patiently entertaining her active and demanding toddler without ever once behaving as if it was just to butter Beth up. If Eugene needs more time to feel comfortable in their relationship before he shares her bed, she certainly can give him that.

He relaxes, arm over her shoulders, and presses a gentle kiss to her temple like he did earlier. "You told me about your ex-husband. I suppose we have reached the point where there is a significant part of my life experience that needs to be explained for a full understanding of my hesitation."

When Eugene takes a deep breath and haltingly explains the sordid and heartbreaking tale of Sarah's time in his life, Beth thinks she understands the concept of why women sometimes want to commit bodily harm on their romantic predecessors. She pushes away that sense of righteous anger for now, figuring she may have found a guaranteed bonding point between herself and his sisters. There is no way Connie and Kelly have forgiven this woman the way he seems to be trying to do.

When it seems Eugene expects to be deemed foolish, Beth just slides herself into his lap and keeps her kisses light and sweet as she reasures him. This isn't deserving of pity, that a good man trusted the wrong person. Tucked close to him and keeping it platonic as possible, she draws him into one last, lingering kiss.

"As much as I hate that she hurt you, I'm selfishly glad she was so stupid," she tells him. He's braved touching her beyond shoulders or face finally, one hand sliding under her shirt to rest warm against her back. 

"I confess to a similar relief that your former spouse could not find it in him to remain an integral part of your daily life."

Beth laughs a little at that and eases back to sit beside him on the couch. She reaches for the remote. "What is your opinion on cooking competitions with weird ingredients?"

Eugene's scientific additions to her particular television addiction keeps them both entertained through three episodes and leisurely kisses between them. Eventually, he reluctantly admits he needs to head home because he has a substitute job in the morning. Walking him to the door, Beth watches his car until it's out of sight.

He may need a little more time to be certain of the longevity of their relationship, but Beth doesn't think she does. She knew things were shaky before she and Dennis married, and enthralled as she was with having a college aged boyfriend in Rick, she can honestly say the end of summer breakup was expected. What she is starting to feel now? That makes all of that seem like what it was, a girl playing at womanhood.

He is going to absolutely be worth the wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slow and steady for these two. I suspect this will wrap in about 2-3 more chapters.
> 
> Not that Beth will disappear, since she's embarking on a career as matchmaker for King County. 😉


	11. Make Sure She Knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eugene, Connie, and Kelly brave Thanksgiving dinner at the crowded Greene house.

Eugene takes a deep breath as he navigates the long and winding drive to the Greene farm. He still isn't sure how his family ended up invited to Beth's family's Thanksgiving dinner, but here they are, almost there. It will be the first time they've spent the holiday with anyone other than the three of them since the girls' parents died.

"Still got time to turn and run," Kelly teases from the back seat. Eugene just shakes his head, smiling at her antics. She's probably as nervous as he is, meeting these new people that are important to Beth.

He's seen the texts the two exchange, and he knows Beth's invited Kelly to sit in on classes with her to get a feel for college life. Eugene is a little embarrassed he didn't think of that himself, but it'll be more fun with a student to hang around with than someone who has to teach.

Connie arches a brow when she sees his movement. When he just points at Kelly, she laughs. She's been in contact with Beth, too, but he has no idea what they talk about. His best friend only admits to 'girl stuff' when he got curious. He parks the car in a line of other cars, recognizing Beth's Civic and her roommate's little car, but none of the others. There are a lot of cars.

Connie takes his hand and squeezes it before telling him, _She loves you. Her family will love you._

 _She hasn't said_ , he protests. Neither of them have ventured that level of discussion. While Eugene is mostly sure Beth feels the same way, he doesn't know. Not with the certainty that Connie seems to hold.

Both his sisters snort and roll their eyes. He wonders for a brief moment if it's too late to return them somewhere. Probably need a receipt.

 _I am deaf, Eugene, not blind_ , Connie tells him.

Then Beth appears on the porch, waving excitedly. Benjy dances around her feet, and as soon as they get close, the boy hops down the steps to run to Eugene. Picking him up as requested, they reach Beth.

The kiss she gives him in greeting is chaste enough, but draws smirks from his sisters. Beth notices, grins, and kisses him again. Leaving him blushing slightly and still carrying Benjy, she leads the way inside the sprawling old farmhouse. The sense of continuity hits him, along with the remembrance that it's been her family's home for more than a century.

"Mama is in the kitchen with Patricia and Amy. Daddy's entertaining the kids in the living room. I'm fairly sure Maggie and Shawn snuck Tara out to the stables to see the new horse Daddy's boarding."

"Is that everyone?" Kelly asks, eyes wide as she translates for Connie. They've never been to a holiday meal with this many people.

Beth shakes her head. "Otis and Jimmy ran to town for more ice, and several people aren't here yet."

Leading them to the living room, Beth introduces everyone to her father. He offers his hand to Eugene, gaze solemn and assessing, then smiles at the girls. "I would recommend hiding out in here. The kitchen gets a little chaotic on holidays."

Once they've taken his advice, the veterinarian indicates the children. "We tend to host a lot of young ones for the holiday while their parents volunteer at community events or work."

Benjy hasn't made any move to leave Eugene to join the other kids, snuggled close and watching. He recognizes two of the children that he's met at different times at Beth's house, but the other six he doesn't. Two are teenagers, younger than Kelly, but definitely watching her curiously, and he's glad she won't end up in the no man's land of being too old for the small children and too young for the adults.

Beth notices the curious teens and grins. "Kelly, if you like Uno, I'm sure that Ron and Alice will deal you in. Alice is my neighbor, who watches Benjy for me on Friday nights, and Ron's mother works at Daddy's clinic." 

Kelly ventures forward after both kids smile brightly and gather up cards to deal again. Eugene spares a moment of empathy for Alice. He's heard enough of Beth's stories to know that particular parent isn't working or volunteering. At least Alice has the Greenes in her corner, much like he had Connie and her family.

Beth points out the rest of the kids. "Sam is Ron's brother, AJ and Becca are one of our local deputies' kids, and Andre's mom is sort of extended family, too. Henry and Jody are Benjy's cousins."

Eugene translates automatically for Connie, which is tricky around Benjy, but something he should get used to. While he's met Henry and Jody, he can't remember if he explained them clearly to Connie before, so he does now. 

"There's a special event today?" he asks, once that's done.

Hershel smiles warmly, attention half on the game of Jenga the four older children are playing while Henry and Andre color. "Beth's boss throws a community Thanksgiving for those who don't have anyone to celebrate with or perhaps are experiencing a little bad luck. It is a tradition as old as Jean owning that cafe."

"You didn't need to help?" Eugene asks Beth, curious. She's so attached to Jean and her family that he actually met Merle before he met Maggie, which happened last night at supper at Beth's. 

There was a tension between the sisters, but Beth assured him it had nothing to do with him. By the end of the night, Maggie seemed more settled and their shared attendance of the University of Georgia for undergrad work gave her and Eugene common ground. Whatever it is will work itself out, he supposes.

Beth shakes her head. "Thanksgiving is a paid day off for me, since Jean puts all her boys to work today." With five of them, plus Aaron's husband, he supposes they have plenty of help.

The sound of a car pulling up draws Beth away for a minute, and she returns with a uniformed deputy Eugene recognizes from photos. He's carrying an infant seat and a diaper bag. He's officially introduced as Shane and smiles at Eugene's sisters. The look he levels at Eugene is a little more discerning, but considering the tales he's heard, meeting all of Jean's boys is going to be a requirement. Merle was just the first, and he doubts this counts with Shane.

"Got called in for a double, and Carol took my spot at the cafe. Told her you wouldn't mind one bit looking out for Sophia for a few hours."

It's obviously the truth, because Hershel is already beside him as Shane unfastens the baby's straps. The vet waits with a smile as the deputy tickles the baby before passing her over. Hershel uses the baby exchange to hug Shane.

"You be a good girl for Mister Hershel now, Jellybean. Don't make him call me to take you in for being disorderly now." The baby cackles when he pokes her belly. "Yeah, that sounds like someone planning mischief. Maybe you shouldn't hang around Bethie today."

Shane looks reluctant as he turns away from the baby to Beth and passes off the diaper bag. "Got two bags of milk in the little insulated pocket. Carol should be by around three. She said Sophia can have a little taste of sweet potatoes if she's interested."

Beth takes the bag, brushing a kiss across Shane's cheek. "You best go say hi to Mama before you go. And stay safe tonight. Don't want to hear you had to get sewed up again!"

"Of course," Shane drawls, seeming to answer both requests, before kneeling for hugs from Jody and Henry. Nodding in farewell to Eugene and the girls, he disappears.

Eugene nearly chokes on suppressed laughter at Connie's remark about men in uniform. From the grins she and Beth exchange, he doesn't need to translate. It's a blessing, because saying that in Hershel's hearing range is not on his bucket list.

By the time the meal is on the table, three other adults have joined them. Two are parents of the kids already there, Michonne and Jessie. The last is introduced as Beth's future sister-in-law-in-law. It takes a minute for him to puzzle out a translation, until the older woman has pity on him. 

"I'm her sister," Andrea says, pointing at Amy, where she's seated next to Beth's brother. "So Beth says them getting married makes me family, too. Michonne and I are law partners."

The dark skinned woman with dreads salutes them with a dinner roll before passing the overladen basket of bread down the table. The table is overloaded with so much food Eugene isn't sure where to start. "I keep telling them we need to issue a who's who guide to King County for newcomers," Michonne remarks.

Connie finds that amusing at least, and they're seated so that he is across from her. Kelly's at the folding table with the kids old enough to feed themselves, and she seems to be communicating just fine. No one seems phased by the pauses required so Eugene can actually eat, generally keeping conversation to Connie's end of the table where she can read lips, too. The food is amazing, and Eugene tells Annette as much.

"I'm glad you think so, honey, because everyone leaves here with leftovers."

The giggles from her daughters should have warned Eugene. When they do leave, there are enough containers of food that he doesn't think they will need to cook for three or four days. There's even an entire pie for them to share, and specifically for Eugene in flavor. He didn't miss Beth quizzing to find out it was strawberry rhubarb earlier this week.

"Are there always this many?" he asks as Beth helps them to the car. 

"Every single year. Mama acts like we'll starve to death without her feeding us, and she doesn't get to see Maggie every week for Sunday dinner. Thanksgiving just gives her extra ducklings to feed."

"You said you have the night off?" Eugene steadily ignores the muffled giggles of their audience. 

Beth smiles sweetly. "I do. You want to come over? Or maybe me and Benjy come down?"

He considers both options. As much as his natural inclination is for his own space, Benjy has an early bedtime that will definitely be needed after the day's excitement. "Let me drop them off at home, and I'll drive back up." Eugene hesitates, but she's smiling so happily that he takes the plunge. "I don't have to work tomorrow."

As the implications of what he's hinting hit, that pretty smile turns to a sly grin. "So you might bring an overnight bag?"

When Eugene nods, Beth leans in for a kiss that barely qualifies as appropriate for public. He's more than a little glad his back is to the car. But her enthusiasm washes away any current vestiges of hesitation he has about the decision. "Should be back by five."

A car pulls up, with a pretty brunette climbing out. Beth gives him a quick kiss. "Gonna go quiz Carol about how many heads she turned in that new outfit. She looks nice, doesn't she?"

Eugene supposes she does. The gray sweater drapes over a red plaid skirt, and instead of hose, she's wearing leggings and ankle boots. When his memory places her as the baby's mother, he also understands Beth's excitement. "You mean you want to know if a particular deputy noticed her."

The look of mock innocence makes him laugh as she trails after the other woman toward the farmhouse. He gets into the car, only to meet two very amused stares. "Oh, hush, both of you."

That works so well that they both laugh all the way back to the main road. Sisters! Not that he would trade them for anything.

Panic sets in once he's home and facing that overnight bag he's supposed to take. Just when he's about talked himself out of going, Connie comes into his room and drops his travel toiletry kit into the bag. Smirking, she reveals the box in her other hand before adding it, too.

_Didn't figure you bought any recently._

More like never, he thinks, staring at the box of condoms. There's probably a shudder factor to a woman he considers his sister giving those to him, but Eugene long since ignores social norms where Connie having his back is concerned.

_Thank you._

_Staying the night doesn't have to mean sex. I think she would also be happy just to have you stay._

He sighs. _I can't let Sarah shadow my life forever._

 _Good._ Connie smiles and reaches out to close the bag. _Now get on your way before she starts worrying you changed your mind._

At the front door, she snags his wrist briefly. _I meant it. She loves you. Make sure she knows it is mutual._

Nodding mutely, Eugene heads for the car, wishing Beth lived closer for the dozenth time. Most of the time, that is because he's excited to see her. Tonight, it's a mixture of anticipation and fear of change that both war for dominance during the drive.

When his anxious mind stutters through statistics about birth control failure, Eugene is glad he's arriving so he can pull over at last. Taking deep breaths to center himself, he looks up to see Beth on her porch. Benjy's doing the same happy dance as earlier.

The sight settles all the chaos of his mind. It's only been six weeks since his first accidental date with Beth, but it feels like six months with all the time they've spent together. He's met her family, she's met his, and everyone seems quite happy with the idea of them together. Most importantly, Benjy likes him, and he won't hesitate to admit the boy has wiggled right into his heart even faster than his mama.

Eugene is certain there is little incentive that can make him willingly give up either of them at this point. Whatever tonight ends up being, every path to his future leads right to this small house and the beautiful woman waiting for him with her son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter... Going to keep this one sweetly rated T. 😉


	12. It Bears Repeating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas with all the family, including her ex-husband, reminds Beth that some things are worth taking risks for.

Beth wakes slowly, snuggling into Eugene's warmth. Smiling, she slips her hand under his shirt, hearing his breathing change as she skims across his chest. Something about the kiss pressed to her temple is more enticing than if he aimed for an actual kiss.

Raising up a little, she smiles at him. "Merry Christmas."

His smile is still a little sleepy, blue eyes half lidded. "Not sleeping in?"

"I think I'm hardwired to wake up before Benjy by now. You can sleep a little longer if you like."

"How long before he gets up?"

"Maybe half an hour, since he got to bed on time. It being Christmas won’t throw him off this year. Next year? We’ll probably be in for it.”

Eugene gives her that sweet, almost goofy smile that he has anytime he’s included in some random future date as part of her and Benjy’s lives. She can’t resist kissing him, marveling at how he still manages a vestige of shyness even a month or so after they’d taken things beyond platonic dating. It doesn’t take much coaxing on her part to have them spending that last half hour of quiet in pleasant ways for them both.

It also means she’s just finishing her shower when Benjy wakes up, his first yell at the baby gate for Mama turning to an excited “Yeen!” that tells her Eugene has it well in hand. By the time she makes it into the kitchen, he and Benjy are at the table, with Benjy happily eating bananas and Apple Jacks cereal. Connie’s at the oven, pulling out something that smells like the world’s best pastries.

Beth slings her arms around Eugene’s shoulders and grins at Benjy. “Where’s Kelly?” The sisters had stayed over last night to have Christmas morning with Benjy, taking advantage of Beth's rather comfy fold out couch. She knows Tara will sleep most of the day, promising to join them for Christmas festivities at Grandma Jean's that evening.

“She took Domino out for a run.” Eugene solemnly accepts a slice of banana with an Apple Jack smushed into it and eats it. “Thank you, Chef Benjy.”

It makes Beth giggle, because the irregularly wrapped present in the living room is exactly along that ‘chef’ theme. Benjy’s wish to mimic anyone cooking food resulted in Eugene and Connie asking to give him a joint present of a toy kitchen. Despite the instructions saying assembly was simple, it still took three adults and a giggling teenager to put everything together last night. Many of Benjy’s other presents he’ll receive today from various people will add to the kitchen’s accessories.

“When is Dennis arriving?” Connie asks, setting plates on the table, each with two warm pastries shaped a bit like an eclair. “Quesitos,” she explains at Beth’s curious look, fingerspelling the word even as Eugene translates for her. “Part of our Christmas morning tradition.”

“He said he would eat breakfast with Otis, Patricia, and Jimmy, then head over."

Beth's delight in the breakfast pastry has Connie laughing. "Recipe is on the counter. It is not complicated."

Eugene nods, offering Benjy a bit of his. "Puff pastry, cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and syrup. I can make them, and Connie sometimes says I could burn water if I wasn't careful."

"More?" Benjy's hopeful look gets him the rest of the quesito Eugene already shared.

Connie drops another quesito on Eugene's plate, wiggling her little finger at Eugene with a smirk. He just rolls his eyes at her implying he's wrapped around Benjy's little finger. 

Seeing Dennis pull up outside, parking his borrowed motorcycle next to Connie's car, Beth gets up to go start a cup of coffee for him. He barely gets the "knock knock" voiced before Benjy's yelling excitedly. It's a good thing Tara's room is fairly soundproofed, living in the house with a rambunctious toddler while working night shift.

The excitement is good to see. Benjy had been extremely shy around Dennis when he first arrived eight days ago. Talking to his father on video chat keeps him familiar with Dennis while he's deployed, but the juxtaposition of having the man here in person had sort of freaked the toddler out for the first three days. Just when Beth was beginning to despair for Dennis's sake, Henry had developed a fascination with his normally absent uncle that made Benjy curious enough to set aside his shyness.

"Hey, baby boy." Dennis doesn't mind the fact that he's now getting smeared with cream cheese filling and banana after he releases Benjy from his toddler seat at the table. Dennis smiles at the rest of the folks in the kitchen, passing on a cheerful Christmas greeting.

"Coffee's at the pot whenever you're ready," Beth tells him, passing him a damp cloth to rescue himself and Benjy from the boy's breakfast remains. "I see Kelly now. As soon as she showers, we'll go see what Santa brought for a certain grubby little fellow."

Getting lost in the morning's flurry of gift wrap makes Beth glad she'd insisted on doing something here at the house. Last year, she'd stayed the night at her parents' house, and the invitation this year had included Eugene and his sisters, but she just really felt like it was time to have her first Christmas morning independent of her parents. Whether that's an indication of a different type of relationship she's developing with Eugene or simply the fact that she's older now, she's not sure. It's worth the hilarious pictures she's managed to get to have to do her own cleanup.

Taking the first bag of wrapping paper and packaging to the kitchen, Beth isn't surprised to see Dennis coaxing another cup of coffee from the single cup brewer of Tara's. "You're going to have to change your blood type to caffeine one of these days," she quips, fishing another trash bag out from the box under the sink.

"Wouldn't that make transfusions much easier?" he asks, arching a brow at her. Glancing toward the living room, where Kelly and Eugene are sprawled on the floor helping Benjy finish wrestling toy kitchen accessories out of the packaging, Dennis smiles. "Seems like he's a keeper, Bethie."

Following his line of sight, Beth nods, smiling at the scene before her. Connie's taken over as photographer, thankfully, because the packaging seems to be defeating Eugene at the moment, to Kelly and Benjy's amusement. "He is. He really is."

"I'm glad." When she looks back to Dennis, he looks a little wistful, but content as well. "You and Benjy deserve to have someone who is around all the time. And the way you smile when he's involved? It looks good on you. Haven't seen that in a long time."

What she likes about that phrase is that there's none of the lingering guilt in his voice finally. Dennis has always blamed himself far more than anyone else for their marriage failing, Beth included. Accepting his return to the Navy might not seem like the best choice, since it makes her a single mother in a way just being divorced doesn't, but deep down, she knows that sticking around King County probably would have eventually landed Dennis in the same place Merle just got free of. The structure and rules of the military give Dennis guidelines the civilian world simply doesn't provide.

"Benjy loves him to pieces."

"I've noticed. I've also noticed that it's mutual." Beth's noticed that, too. Last night's bedtime story, before Dennis left, had been delegated to Eugene by Benjy's insistence. Dada is fun to play with, but Yeen is the storyteller Benjy prefers.

She must look a little concerned, because Dennis snakes an arm out and gives her a half hug. "I've made the choices I've made where he's concerned, and the fact that Eugene is here when I'm not for Benjy? It's a really good thing to see, I promise. But if he hurts you..."

"There will be a line around the block, starting with his own sisters," she finishes for Dennis. "He loves me, you know."

"And you love him." Dennis says it with such confidence that Beth startles. He smiles at her. "I have eyes, Beth. You look at him like he's an oasis in the desert. Have you told him yet?"

Shaking her head, Beth sighs. "I always rushed things, Dennis. Headlong, both feet, not thinking at all."

"Not saying it doesn't make it not be true, you know, just like saying it to me because you felt guilty we moved too fast didn't make it actually true." It's something they both agreed on, that they'd moved too fast, mistaking the thrill of new romance and sex for something deeper than it was. She can't regret it, because it gave them Benjy. "I'm right, aren't I? That you're so far gone on him you know exactly what we were missing?"

Her face heats a little in embarrassment. "Yeah."

"Tell the poor man."

"Anyone ever tell you that ex-husbands aren't supposed to be so sweet?"

"I had heard a rumor to that effect. Now shoo. Go help them conquer those twist ties."

Beth smiles at Dennis before kissing his cheek and passing him the empty trash bag. "Your turn."

Scampering off to the living room, she can't help but be grateful that her life contains none of the drama a divorced person's life is supposed to have, if you believe all the books and television shows.  
Hours later, she's a little more grateful for the sometimes weird friendship she and Dennis carved out of the marriage-that-shouldn't have been. The looks between Rick and Lori at Jean's Christmas supper are nearly painful to catch sight of, and she can practically smell the guilt rolling off the young deputy. But as much as her instinct is to meddle, there's a moment where Jean catches her eye and shakes her head. Trusting in the older woman's judgment like she has her entire life, Beth leaves it be.

Besides, it's far more intriguing to watch Daryl's clumsy attempt at sign language. It's Kelly teaching him, with Denise also paying close attention. Henry's mother made it into Atlanta late last night, and she looks so exhausted that Beth's grateful she's got a full two weeks off. The part that sucks is that it only overlaps Dennis's time off by two days, effectively. Dennis has been appropriated by Merle for a bit, the two men exchanging casual chit chat about military life, while all three of the deputies at Jean's supper listen in.

Eugene comes to stand next to her at the kitchen island, offering his tea mug and nudging her where she stopped midway in selecting her own tea mixture from Jean's collection. "I'm a little concerned about that calculating look on your face."

Beth grins and steals a kiss before finishing her tea and snagging another infuser for Eugene's. "I was just thinking... Daryl's single. Connie's single." She lets it drift off, glancing sideways to see Eugene's reaction to her maybe meddling with his sister and Benjy's uncle. Her meddling with Shane and Carol worked out so well that she can't resist. Daryl's refused to date since Henry was born, unwilling to chance a woman wouldn't understand his rather unique relationship with Denise now that Henry is a permanent tie between them. But Connie? Beth can't see her being judgmental there, not at all, and she's just bold enough to keep Daryl on his toes.

He doesn't argue against it, just watching Daryl for a moment. Henry's in his mother's lap, but he's watching his parents' hands with all the intentness that a sixteen-month-old can manage. "She's teaching them signs for babies. See? Milk." Eugene repeats the sign himself, which works for an extra purpose as Beth retrieves the small container of cream for him.

"Maybe we should start teaching Benjy. I mean, if we start now, he'll be fluent enough to talk to Connie faster than if we wait, right?" Beth's been learning, but she hasn't really thought about teaching Benjy before, even with how advanced his speaking skills are. Even now, Eugene or Kelly stil translate for Beth and Connie, although she's been practicing as much as she can with her break from college classes. Connie can read lips to an extent, but that only helps with Beth, not Benjy, who doesn't understand to look at Connie when he speaks.

"They teach baby sign as young as six months. Some of the signs are simplified, when they are too complex for a baby's dexterity, but learning the correct sign later wouldn't be any different than learning proper grammar later." Eugene looks delighted at the thought, leaning in to brush a chaste kiss across her lips. "I think Connie would be very touched if you wanted him to start learning."

"Mama! See my ammalamma!" Benjy bounces as he rounds the kitchen island, Jody trailing behind him. He bobbles a stuffed armadillo at Beth before clutching it to his chest in what would be a suffocating hug if the poor thing was a living animal.

"I got it out of the toy box in the bedroom," the five-year-old explains. "He's really excited, because it's like a book, I think?"

"Walks and walks and walks, Yeen!"

Beth giggles and nods. "He has a book about an armadillo at home. It's his favorite book right now."

Jody nods, and it's not the first time she wonders what Merle looked like as a small boy, because his son is an absolutely beautiful child, and that's even admitting her own son and Henry are handsome fellows, too. But there aren't any pictures of Merle outside of school pictures before he came to live with Jean.

"He can keep the armadillo, if he wants. I don't mind."

"That's very sweet of you, Jody. Tell Jody thank you, Benjy. He says the armadillo wants to go home with you."

The toddler holds the stuffed animal out with a look of amazement before looking back at Jody. "He talks?"

Life with Henry has taught Jody this one. The boy grins, that smile pure Dixon. "Yeah. C'mon. We can go show Andre."

Benjy follows Jody as easily as if Beth and Eugene had turned invisible, now fascinated with the older boy and his ability to speak armadillo. Beth grins at Eugene. "You're going to be reading that book for the next month, you know. What's the sign?"

The sign, covering a fisted right hand with the left hand while wiggling the index finger, makes Beth giggle, but her mind circles back to how their sign language discussion got started. She recognizes the sign Kelly's teaching now, so she looks to see where Connie's disappeared to. Somehow, she's not surprised one bit to find the older woman sitting cozily with Jean and the rest of the women here tonight on the back porch with a notebook between them for whatever conversation the women are having. Nudging, Eugene, she hands him his tea. "See how well she fits in?"

"Far be it from me to get in your way when you're looking that determined," he tells her, amused. "You might recruit Kelly as your helper, though. I think she's a bit smitten with Daryl herself."

With the idea taking root, Beth steals a little kiss from Eugene and goes to settle in with the impromptu lesson. She's not surprised at all when Eugene eyes the group on the porch and ventures out once he's caught Connie's eye. That's why she thinks Connie would understand Daryl and Denise in a way many wouldn't. She and Eugene are practically the same, just without the New Year's Eve oops that gifted the family with Henry, thank goodness.

Later that night, it's almost too quiet at home. Benjy's sleeping the sort of sleep any toddler has after an exciting Christmas day split between three households. Tara's off at work, drawing the short end of the stick like any rookie for the holidays. Eugene's looking for something in his duffel bag, and Beth mulls over her conversation with Dennis again. Since school's been out for the winter holiday, Eugene's stayed here as much as he's stayed at home.

They've only been dating for two months. Her entire relationship with Rick didn't last that long, and by this far along with Dennis, she was pregnant with Benjy and didn't know it. Neither of those had been love, she knows now, at least not the type of love needed to sustain two people. As much as she knows her age was a factor in both cases, she also knows so much of what she feels now is the man in front of her, quietly mumbling as he finally locates his errant socks.

"We could just set you up some space in the dresser for when you're here," she says.

Eugene goes stock still, turning to her with wide eyes, still holding those socks. "I would not want to presume," he says, voice dropping low. She can't mistake the look of longing her suggestion brings to his face.

"It's not presuming if I offer, now it is?" 

He shakes his head, emotions flickering across his face, as easy for Beth to read as sign language is for Eugene. She goes to slip her arms around his waist, snuggling close to him. He relaxes against her, and she reminds herself of just how badly he's been hurt before. Even divorced, Beth doesn't have that kind of hurt in her past. 

"I love you," she says softly, and she can feel his reaction in how he stiffens. Shock. Then his arms tighten around her. Happiness. Being kissed? Well, that's happiness, but it's also guiding her back toward the bed in a way he's never initiated before. He repeats her words softly between kisses and later reverently against her skin.

Before she'd been intrigued by Eugene, she'd felt almost petulant that life at twenty-one wasn't supposed to be boring and lonely. In just two short months, neither of those emotions apply anymore. Why worry about something as silly as time when this man chased all that away and loves her son? Blessing whatever luck led her to cross paths with Eugene, she curls against him, content and sated, pressing a kiss first against the soft skin at the base of his throat and again to his lips. Looking down at him, she smiles. "I love you. It bears repeating, you know."

When he smiles, bright and joyous, she can't help but feel the same joy herself. Love, in their little corner of the universe, feels just like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While it needed to wait until the other story caught up, this chapter got so tricky because the last chapter was hard to top. Beth was a trickier minx than Eugene to get to the happily ever after.
> 
> Hopefully, it was worth the wait. For those of you who took the plunge on one of the rarest pairings in TWD, thank you. I'll probably write them again one day, and try a ZA version next time.


End file.
